Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse
by Chronos the Cat
Summary: Cast members from the Chrono games compete in a reality-show style game involving competing in challenges and performing dares. Over the course of the game they will learn new things about each other and themselves... And much fan service will be had.
1. Prelude

Chronos the Cat and Norstein Bekkler Present:

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

A Chrono Trigger / Chrono Cross Fan Fiction by Chronos Cat

_Copyright Note:_ Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, and all related characters © Square-Enix. The Funhouse and Chronos the Cat © 2003, 2011 P. Stupakewicz. All rights reserved.

_Preface: _

The following story is set after the main stories of both Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, and as such has spoilers both games. The Trigger elements are based primarily on the English Super NES & Playstation versions of Chrono Trigger, though I have in a few instances incorporated elements of the original Japanese version where I felt they fit with my story, and may incorporate elements of the DS version once I've played it. The Cross elements are based on my understanding of the events of that rather confusing game (based on the English version); I do not expect all to agree with my interpretation.

Incidentally, I probably ought to warn new readers; I engage in both canon and not-so-canon shipping.

Finally, I consider this story to be a work-in-progress, and reserve the right to revise chapters as I feel necessary. I don't expect any of these revisions to be so great that a reader who read one version of a chapter would need to re-read that chapter to understand what's going on. However, for the sake of any who might want to check out the changes anyway I will mention the more interesting changes in the next new chapter posted after I make those changes.

* * *

"Prelude to the Funhouse"

"Serge...

"Serge!"

"Huh?" Serge looked up from his drink to see Leena scowling at him. They were sitting at a table in the Arni cafe. Serge guessed she must have been talking to him- he had been too caught up in his thoughts to notice.

He had been thinking about the dream again; the one he had had that time he had passed out on the beach. It had been several months now, and he still couldn't get it out of his head. He had dreamed he had woken up in a strange world where he was supposed to be dead. In the dream, he went on many adventures, passing back and forth between that world and his own, fighting a mysterious feline demi-human named Lynx. Along the way he met many people, including a fierce girl named Kid. Then, after the final battle, he had woken up back on the beach, as if nothing had happened.

When he'd told all this to Leena, she'd said it must have all just been a dream... but Serge wasn't so sure...

"I was saying," Leena said, making sure she had his attention this time, "I'm going up to Termina to buy some things, and wondered if you wanted to come along?"

"Sure!" Serge agreed, happy to have the chance for some time together with her.

They headed out of Arni village, and headed north, through Fossil Valley to the city of Termina.

Even though the Viper festival was over, the city was still a bustling place. Every time he came, Serge was amazed by how accurate his dream of Termina had been. Though Leena had been there before, Serge had never been to Termina prior to his dream- and yet, it looked exactly the same as in his dream.

...Well, perhaps not quite exactly. In his dream, in his own world, Termina had been conquered by the Porre military. Even in the other world, they had invaded by the end. But if Kid were to be believed, the destruction of the Time Devourer resulted in the two worlds merging. Serge guessed that if the dream were true, this merging must have altered history enough to prevent, or at least delay, Porre's attack.

As they were walking along, Leena pointed out a poster on a wall. "Look at that, Serge!"

Serge glanced at it. It said, in bold letters, "Do you dare to enter... The Funhouse?" Below this was a picture of what looked like a circus tent. At the bottom of the poster, it said in smaller letters, "The renowned entertainer/scientist Dr. Norstein Bekkler is proud to present the 'reality game' 'the Funhouse'! Two teams of six players will stay in the Funhouse for a little over a month, performing crazy dares and contests to win money and the right to stay in the game. At the end, a final challenge will determine the winning team, and the remaining members of that team will win at least 12,000 GP, in addition to any money they may have earned during the course of the game!"

Serge couldn't believe his eyes. _Who in their right mind would want to play a game like that?_ he wondered.

Leena said excitedly, "Doesn't that sound like fun?"

"Err...Yeah!"

She grabbed his arm. "Come on! Let's go sign up!"

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, on the eastern side of the Island, just north of the mountains surrounding Mount Pyre, a strange assortment of humans, demi-humans, and enchanted objects were busy erecting a large, colorful pavilion.

Nikki, guitarist and lead singer of the Magical Dreamers stepped inside the dungeon-like lobby of the structure. A white floating face, accompanied by two white gloves drifted down from the ceiling giving a strange cackle.

"Hello again, Nikki. Welcome back. What can I do for you today?"

"Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel my plans to stay in the Funhouse."

"Oh, really? I'm sorry to hear that. May I ask why?"

"I was talking with my agent, and it turns out I'm scheduled to perform up in Choras later this month, so I won't have time for your game. Sorry, Bekkler. Maybe another time."

Bekkler sighed. "Yes, I fully understand. Another time, then."

"Well, I've got to be going. See ya." Nikki turned and headed towards the door. As he neared it, he stopped. "Oh, hi there, Marcy. Fancy meeting you here!"

"Hello, Nikki," Marcy said coldly. Marcy, Zoah, Karsh, and Glenn walked into the room.

Bekkler visibly perked up. "Ah, the four Devas of the Acacia Dragoons. Welcome to my lab. I am the world famous Norstein Bekkler. How may I help you?"

Glenn said, "General Viper sent us here to inspect the facilities. We want to make sure this place will be safe for your contestants."

"Of course. I'm sure you'll find everything well in order- though we aren't entirely done constructing the place, you understand."

Glenn nodded.

Bekkler snapped his fingers, and the iron gate at the other end of the lobby rose. Three old men stepped out, dressed in armor reminiscent of that worn by soldiers of Guardia 400 years ago.

Bekkler said to them, "Vicks, Wedge, Piette, please show these gentlemen around the premises."

"Yes, sir, Dr. Bekkler," the old men said, saluting.

Nikki shifted his weight, and said, "Um, well, see you later Marcy."

"What-ever."

Nikki walked out.

Sometime later, the Acacia Devas returned to the lobby.

"Everything seems to be in order, Dr. Bekkler. You may proceed, for the time being. We may wish to look things over again later."

"Anything General Viper wants. I have nothing to hide. ...By the way, while you're here, would any of you like to sign up to participate in the Funhouse?"

Marcy asked skeptically, "Is there any fighting involved?"

"Well, there shall be many competitions, possibly including wrestling, boxing, or the like. As for actual dueling or out-right fighting, no, there shall be none of that."

Marcy yawned. "Bore-ing."

Glenn cleared his thought. "We have many responsibilities, so no, I don't believe any of us would have the time."

Bekkler spread his hands. "Ah, well, it was worth a shot. Good day to you."

Glenn nodded. "Good day." He turned and headed out the door, followed by the other Devas.

Bekkler sunk down to just a few feet above the ground, and gave a great sigh. "This is never going to work. The game's scheduled to start in less than a week, and I only have two people signed up!"

"Don't worry," a voice said from the darkness of the inner gate. Only the slightest of light reached the figure, outlining a muscled humanoid body, and a face like that of a cat... "Everything is going according to plan."

o-o-o-o

A few days later, in the skies above the Northern Continent, there was a flash of light, and a small, winged vehicle appeared.

Inside the cockpit, Lucca exalted. "We made it!"

Marle looked over at her. "You sound surprised. I thought you said you were sure this would work."

"Well, in theory. I've never programmed the Epoch to travel to a new time period before, though, so there was a chance I could have done something wrong..."

"You mean we could have ended up in some completely different time period?"

"Of course not. There are only a few points in time that are safe to travel to. If the co-ordinates were wrong, the temporal turbulence would have simply torn the Epoch apart- and us with it of course."

"WHAT? You mean we could have been killed, and just so we could have a glimpse of the world twenty years into the future? We probably would have seen this future eventually, anyway, just by living our normal lives!" Marle grabbed Lucca by the neck and began shaking her violently.

In the pilot's seat, a sweat drop formed on Crono's forehead. Deciding to ignore the two girls, he began looking around for a good place to land.

Thinking the best place to gather information about this time period would be in town, he headed towards Truce. But then, something caught his eye. He glanced to the northwest, towards Guardia Castle, and had to do a double take.

The Castle was in ruins.

Crono couldn't believe his eyes. How could this be possible? According to Lucca they were only twenty years in the future, give or take a year or two. What could have happened?

Crono flew the Epoch over to the clearing south of the castle, and landed.

Marle looked up, and gasped. "That's... not possible!" She was so shocked, her hands went limp, and Lucca was able to break free of her grip.

Forgetting their argument, Marle turned to Lucca and said in distress, "This can't be 1020 AD. This is the distant future right? You just sent us to the wrong time, right?"

Gasping for breath, Lucca shook her head. "No... This... **has**... to be... 1020. Or, at least... within... a few years... of it. ...Like I said... before, ...if I... had the wrong coordinates... we wouldn't even... be here."

Marle looked back up at the castle, then quickly looked away. "But then, what could have happened?"

The three got out of the Epoch, and headed up to the castle to investigate.

The castle looked even worse on the inside. Weapons, damaged armor, and human bones littered the floor.

"There was battle here," Lucca commented. "Some time ago, at that."

Marle closed her eyes, and put her hand to her head. "I can't stand to see the castle like this."

Lucca took a deep breath. "Let's continue on. Maybe there'll be a clue somewhere as to what happened..."

The bridge to the Prison Towers was broken, and the Court tower had collapsed. The throne room was in shambles. But by far the most depressing thing was at the top of the keep, where they found what appeared to be a makeshift barricade, blocking the King's chamber. But the wooden parts of the barricade were charred black, and the trio easily broke through, to find the entire chamber covered in ash.

There were several skeletons in here, all charred. Near one lay the king's crown. Upon seeing this, Marle fell to her knees and burst into tears. "Daddy..."

Lucca walked over to her and put her hand on Marle's shoulder.

...As they walked down the steps back to the throne-room, Lucca said, "What I don't get is, where were we?"

"What do you mean?" Marle asked, as she dried her eyes, unknowingly smudging ash on her face.

"I mean, whatever happened here, why couldn't we stop it? We were powerful enough to destroy Lavos, for crying out loud. You'd think we could handle... whoever or whatever attacked the castle..."

Marle shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe we weren't here when it happened."

"That might explain it... And due to the difficulty in precision time travel, we wouldn't have been able to go back and change things, either. Yes, that's certainly a viable theory. Still, it'd be nice to know for sure."

As they stepped out of the castle, Lucca turned to Marle. "Are you going to be all right?"

Marle nodded, and said in a voice still not completely steady, "Yes. After all, it's not like my father is really dead yet, not for us. And who knows? We may still be able to change all this."

"That's the spirit. Oh, by the way, you might want to brush off your pants."

Marle looked down at her pants, and exclaimed "Oh!" From the knee down, they were filthy, from when she'd knelt on the ash-strewn floor. She tried brushing them off, but they wouldn't come completely clean. "That's the trouble with wearing white..." she grumbled.

They boarded the Epoch and flew to Truce. They then began exploring the town, looking for answers.

The town had changed a bit – there were many new buildings, and most of the old ones had been remodeled. However, it was still inhabited, and it didn't take long talking with the townsfolk to get a general idea what had happened.

It seemed that in 1005 (one year after Princess Nadia's marriage to the young hero Crono) the Porre army had invaded, armed with guns and other weaponry far more advanced than what the Guardia military was in possession of. The Porre forces had quickly taken Truce, then proceed on towards the castle, decimating the Guardia military along the way. King Guardia XXXIII had been killed in the final assault on the castle.

No one knew whether Prince Crono, Princess Nadia, or their friend Lucca had fought in that short war, or what had become of Crono and Nadia afterwards. However, Lucca at least had survived, for afterwards she converted her house into an orphanage, which she ran until her tragic death several years later when the orphanage burnt down.

Also of interest to our group were rumors of an outlaw group known as the "Radical Dreamers". According to the some they were merely a group of thieves and terrorists, but others claimed they were a rebel group devoted to overthrowing Porre. There was a lot of speculation as to how large the group was – some thought there must be hundreds of people in the group, but the only person known for sure to be a part of it was a blonde teenage girl skilled in fire magic.

Back at the Epoch, the three discussed their discoveries.

"Guardia was destroyed by Porre? Who would have thought?" Lucca said.

Marle commented, "And after we went through all that trouble getting the mayor of Porre not to be so selfish, so he'd give us back the Moon Stone..."

Lucca speculated, "Maybe the Porre military overthrew him as well."

"Maybe. ...I'm surprised you're not more concerned about how you died."

Lucca shrugged, and looked down at the ground. "Like you said, it hasn't happened yet for us; it might not even happen this way at all. And if it does... well, we all have to die sometime. I'm just happy to know I made the world a better place."

Marle nodded, then smiled. "And at least it wasn't all bad news..."

"What do you mean?" Lucca asked, looking over at her.

"Well, we found out that Crono and I are going to get married! Isn't that wonderful?" Marle put her arm around Crono affectionately. Crono gave a nervous laugh, as a sweat drop formed on his forehead.

Lucca frowned for a moment, then forced herself to sound cheerful as she said "Yeah, wonderful." Changing the subject, she asked, "So, what do you think about that 'Radical Dreamers' group we heard about?"

Marle said, "I think it's great that someone is fighting back against Porre." Marle put a hand to her chin. "I wonder if we're a part of that group? I know that if I survived the invasion, I would have wanted to fight back..." Her eyes narrowed, and she added quietly, "...make the people who killed my father pay..."

Crono stared at Marle, and Lucca raised an eyebrow at her. The only other they'd heard that tone of voice from Marle had been just before they faced the Lavos Core.

Not quite sure what to do about Marle's mood, Lucca decided to ignore it for the moment and hope for the best. Adjusting her glasses, she said, "Well, we know I'm not in that group . As for you and Crono being in it... I suppose it's possible, but we don't really have any evidence to suggest it."

Marle said reluctantly, "I guess you're right. The only way we could know for sure would be to get in contact with the group!"

"Unfortunately, no one seemed to have any idea where they could be found – not surprising, given that as wanted criminals they can't afford to be found by the Porre military..."

Marle's shoulders slumped. "Yeah." She sighed, then said, "I guess we'll just have to keep looking around. I'm sure if we do we'll eventually find something to help us figure out how to fix things..."

o-o-o-o

Later, Crono, Marle, and Lucca headed up into Truce Canyon, to what they knew as Leene Square, the site of the Millennial fair. It was a melancholic place. The memory of the Fair that had been held there twenty years ago was still fresh in their memories, but now the place was deserted. At the center of the square stood the stone arch where Leene's bell had hung for four hundred years, and where they had watched Nadia's bell be raised. But that bell now lay on the ground, cracked, the engraving on the arch telling of it's dedication seeming cruelly ironic: "1000 AD. Nadia's Bell. May it ring for everlasting peace..."

Deciding to explore a bit more, they headed down to Porre. Unfortunately, the town was now under military control, and civilians (as Crono and the girls were assumed to be) were not welcome. Disappointed but not discouraged, they flew northeast to Medina. The town was under Porre control now, but no worse for wear- certainly the citizens were much better off than they had been under the reign of Ozzie's descendants.

While on the continent, they headed over to Melchior's hut, but the house was abandoned.

They then headed south, to El Nido. This was area was an odd one – it hadn't even existed until several changes in history after the defeat of Lavos. However, the group were familiar with it by now, having visited it in 600 AD and the all of the time periods they had access to after that. In this era they found it to still be under the control of the Viper family.

In Termina, they stopped by the Element shop.

As Crono looked over the selection, Lucca adjusted her glasses. "I wonder why it is that El Nido is the only place in the world where you can find Elements?" she mused.

Marle shrugged. "I don't know, but they sure are a lot more convenient than the magic Spekkio taught us, aren't they?"

"In some ways, yes. It is nice being able to buy whatever spell you want to use, rather than having to wait to reach a certain level of skill and being restricted to only certain types of magic. On the other hand, it's really annoying only being able to use them once per battle..."

As they continued to explore the town, Marle spotted the Funhouse poster.

"Crono, Lucca, look at this!"

Lucca glanced at it. "Well, well, so our old pal Norstein Bekkler's made his way to El Nido."

"Wasn't he the guy we got the clone of Crono from so we could rescue Crono from Lavos?"

"That's the guy, alright."

Marle studied the poster. "Hmm, that sounds like fun."

Crono smiled – it was nice to see her acting cheerful again.

While Lucca was also glad Marle was no longer brooding, that didn't mean she had to agree with Marle's ideas about what would be fun. She raised an eyebrow, and said, "Are you kidding?"

"What, you don't think it sounds fun?"

"No, I don't. I think it sounds stupid. Besides, we have more important things to do."

"Like what? We beat Lavos, we rescued Crono's mom, what more do we have to do?"

"Well..." Lucca held up her hand, lifting up one finger for each thing she listed off. "Find out what we need to do to save Guardia from Porre, find Schala, stop the Mother Brain from taking over the future, help Frog regain his human form, investigate-"

"Alright, already, I get the point."

Lucca decided she wanted to see the ruins of Fort Dragonia, so they headed there. As luck would have it, a group of Acacia dragoons happened to be investigating the ruins as well, led by a woman in a lab coat. When she saw Lucca, she seemed shocked.

"It couldn't be... Lucca? No, it iz impossible, Lucca iz dead, and you are too young... but you look so much like her!" She looked at Marle and Crono. "And you two look just like Princess Nadia of Guardia... and her husband, Crono of Truce..."

Marle put her hands on her hips. "That's because that's who we are!"

Lucca grabbed Marle's shoulder urgently. "Stop it, Marle! It's not safe to reveal our identities in this time period!"

The woman smiled. "Do not vorry, Lucca. I would vould not reveal your friends vhearabouts to the Porre army. Besides, dey are not here!"

Lucca stared at her. The woman gave her a knowing smile. "So, your tales of traveling through time ven you vere younger vere true, den. Fantastic!"

The trio's eyes widened, and they all exchanged glances.

The woman introduced herself, "I am Luccia... a student of yours. …Tell me, vat brings you here?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "You mean to this time? Or Fort Dragonia?"

"Both."

"Well…" Lucca glanced at her companions, then continued reluctantly, "ever since we first discovered how to travel through time, we've been trying to guide history on the best possible course, and to help out a few friends along the way. But it's been pretty difficult, because our time machine, the Epoch, can only travel to a few different years.

"Well, the other day- relatively speaking- we stopped by the End of Time- our `headquarters' if you will- and discovered that someone else had been there. Gaspar- a man who lives at the End of Time- said he had been visited by a feline Mystic- or demi-human, as they're called here in El Nido. The cat apparently knew of us, and left us a letter. The letter described how to program the Epoch to travel to a new time period- this one.

"Naturally, I was a bit skeptical, but it worked."

Luccia was intrigued by this. "I vonder how dis demi-human knew how to program the Epoch? Do you have any idea who dis demi-human might be?"

Lucca shook her head. "Not a clue."

"The letter- did it zay anyt'ing else?"

"Only that we could never hope to create the best possible future if we didn't visit this time period. I suppose that's already been proven true- we knew Guardia didn't last forever, but we had no idea it fell so soon!"

"Indeed. Dat vas most tragic... So, dat is vhy you are 'now'. And vhat brings you here, to Fort Dragonia?"

"Well, the Dragonian ruins fascinate me. We've seen a few ancient civilizations on our trips through time, but we've never actually visited the time of the Dragonian civilization. In fact, it seems to have been confined to El Nido. We've never found any traces of it anywhere else.

"So, naturally, I'm curious about it."

Luccia nodded. "Yes, I find it quite fascinating myself. Come, let me show you around."

Luccia gave them a tour of the Fort, telling them everything she knew about it. Then she invited them to return with her to Viper Manor. As Lucca wished to continue talking with Luccia, and Crono loved exploring new places (thought he preferred places with someone to fight) they accepted.

The three hardly expected to see any familiar faces in Viper Manor, but when they entered the library they were shocked to see...

"Belthasar?"

Belthasar gave them a strange look. "That is indeed my name, but I do not recall ever seeing you before. Have we met?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Not really. We've met you, but you haven't met us before. What I mean is, we encountered you in an alternate course of history, in the year 2300 AD."

"And how is it that you find yourselves in this time period, then?"

"By using the Epoch, the time machine you gave us."

"Indeed? I believe I might be interested in hearing your story. Do continue."

Belthasar was upset to learn there had once been a future where Lavos devastated the world, and where Belthasar died finishing his time machine. He was very grateful to Crono and his friends for destroying Lavos and bringing about a better future.

Belthasar explained that in the new future, he had discovered the technology to be comparable to that in the day of the Kingdom of Zeal, and had been able to continue from where he had left off in his time-travel research. As a result, he had been able to complete his time machine without too much trouble.

Once he had his time machine, however, he had decided to explore history a bit before returning to Zeal. He had discovered clues that there might be something special about the El Nido Archipelago, especially in this particular point in time, so he had stuck around for a while to investigate. And that was how he had happened to be around when the trio had arrived.

After he had finished his tale, Belthasar mentioned that he was curious to see the Epoch, so they took him to where they had parked it. When he began to examine the machine, he was amazed.

"The technology this is built from is so... primitive. No wonder it took me all my life to complete it. It also looks rather well used."

Lucca nodded. "Yes, well, we've had to do quite a bit of time traveling, and since we killed Lavos, the time gates have closed, so this was the only way to get from one time period to another."

"I see. Since you have saved the world from a terrible fate, not to mention greatly improved my life, I feel it only fair I give you a gift. If you'll let me borrow the Epoch for a little while, I can upgrade it for you."

"Upgrade it?"

"Yes, I now have access to technology hundreds of years more advanced than what was used to build the Epoch. Using that technology, I can make the Epoch faster, roomier, and more efficient. I can also enhance the time travel circuits, to allow safe access to a wider range of time periods."

Lucca looked at him with something close to awe, and even Marle was impressed. "Wow! You can do all that?"

"Certainly. It will take a little bit of time, however."

"How long?" Lucca asked.

"Well, that's rather difficult to say. There are so many variables... I'd say, most likely a month, give or take- assuming I don't run into any unexpected difficulties."

Lucca didn't like the sound of that. "An entire month without the Epoch?"

"Quality takes time."

Lucca sighed. "I suppose it's worth it. But what are we supposed to do in the mean time?"

Belthasar shrugged. "I have my own time machine, but I'm afraid I can't let you borrow it. I'll need it to gather materials, and I'd rather not see it suffer the same abuse the Epoch's had to endure. I could take you home however, if you wished."

"No, wait!" Marle spoke up. "I have a better idea!"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Like what?"

"We could stay in the Funhouse!"

"What? You can't possibly be serious."

"Why not? If we can't travel through time, we don't really have anything better to do, and I still think it sounds fun."

Lucca turned to Crono. "Back me up here Crono. It's a stupid idea, right?"

Marle put her hands on her hips. "No, it isn't. It's a great idea, right Crono?"

Crono thought about it a moment, as the two waited in suspense. Then his eyes narrowed, just a little bit, and a smile spread across his face.

Lucca groaned.

o-o-o-o

The dungeon-like lobby of the Funhouse looked just like the entrance to the Tent of Horrors had. There was even the same annoying sound of dripping water in the background.

Cackling madly, the floating face of Norstein Bekkler drifted down from the ceiling, and greeted them warmly. "Welcome, welcome. My, my, I haven't seen you three for a while. Not since the Millennial Fair, as I recall. You haven't changed a bit! How do you do it? Did you discover the Fountain of Youth? Or is it just really good anti-aging cream?"

Lucca shook her head. "Never mind that. We're here to sign up for the Funhouse, if you've got any space left."

"Wonderful, wonderful! Come right over to my desk."

Marle looked around. "What desk?"

Bekkler waved his hand, and a desk appeared with a puff of smoke, near one corner. On it was a stack of papers, and a pen. He floated over to the desk and picked up the pen. "I'll need your name- or nickname if you'd prefer; your gender; and what clothing you intend to wear."

They all stared at him. Marle asked, "What does our clothing have to do with anything?"

"I believe the flier mentions crazy dares and competitions? Some of them involve clothing."

Lucca's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "How so?"

"In various ways. Some might require you to turn an article inside out, or switch it with another player... or possibly even, in a few rare instances, to remove it out-right."

"I knew it!" Lucca said angrily.

"Please, relax. You will never be forced to perform any dares or challenges you do not wish to- they are all entirely by choice. If a dare or challenge bothers you, you are perfectly free to refuse."

"With no consequences?" Lucca pressed.

Bekkler looked a bit uncomfortable. "Well... I can't exactly say that... Whether you perform dares and participate in challenges will determine how much you win in the end beyond the basic 12,000 GP (if you make it to the end of course). Also, under certain circumstances, which you will be informed of, refusing may put you in danger of loosing the game, and having to leave the Funhouse..."

Lucca, Marle, and Crono looked at each other. "I don't know about this..." Lucca said to the others.

Marle agreed with her. "I don't want to loose the game just because I don't want to take off my clothes."

Bekkler tried to reassure them. "I assure you, the chances of that happening are really quite low- we have a variety of dares and challenges, and only a few have anything to do with removing clothing."

That seemed enough to convince Crono, but the girls still looked a little uneasy. Bekkler tried once more to reassure them. "Why don't you give the game a chance? If you don't like it, you may quit at any time."

Marle shrugged. "Well, I guess, in that case, what the heck. Sure, we'll give it a shot." She walked up to the desk. "Put me down as 'Marle'."

"Very well." He wrote that down. "Gender?"

"I'm a girl, obviously."

"Just making sure. ...Now, as for your clothing, we have ten categories: two shoes; two socks; one place for pants, dresses, skirts, shorts, and the like; one place for shirts; one for underwear; one for a jacket; one for a hat or helmet; and one for a bra or an accessory. You may bring several articles of each category (though there will be a limit to the amount off luggage you can bring), so long as you only wear one article from each category at a time. If you wish to wear more than one at a time, we will need to work that out now... Also, if there are any of these categories you do not intend to use- that is, if you don't intend to wear anything of that sort- you may trade it in for a spot for one or more accessories, or for a voucher that can be used instead of any article of clothing- for instance, if you were asked to remove something you'd rather keep on wearing."

"Wow, that's a bit complicated."

"I'll run you through it then. Do you intend on wearing shoes?"

"Do my sandals count?"

"Of course."

"Then, yes."

"How about socks?"

"I never wear socks."

"'No', then. That gives you two extra articles to work with. ...Next, I assume you'll be wearing pants, or a dress or skirt."

"Well, obviously," she said a bit hotly.

"And a shirt, too?"

"What do you think?" she said sarcastically.

"I'll take that as a yes," Bekkler commented, scribbling it down. "Do you expect to be wearing a jacket?"

"Will I need one?"

"We have a small, walled in yard you will be able to earn the right to spend time in, to get fresh air and exercise; it might get cold out there at night or in the early morning. ...Otherwise, no, you won't need a jacket."

"Well, I don't have one anyway, so I suppose I won't be wearing one."

"How about a hat or helmet?"

"I have a helmet... I usually only wear it in battle, however."

"You won't be needing it here, in that case."

"Well, I suppose I won't wear it then."

Bekkler nodded, and wrote that down. "And what about underwear and/or a bra?"

Marle blushed. "I really don't see that that's any of your business."

Bekkler looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "In this instance, it is. But if you don't feel like discussing the matter, I'll just put you down as 'yes' to both." He wrote that down. "That leaves you with four extra spots. Now I see you are wearing several bracelets," (she wore one on each wrist, and one on her right arm) "a band to secure your ponytail, a pendant, and... an armored, belt-like thing... Since you are wearing more than four accessories, if you wish to wear them in the game, you will need to 'combine' some, either with other accessories, or with some of the articles we've already discussed. For instance, you could count all three bracelets as one article; or, you could count your belt as part of your pants."

Marle thought about that a moment, then shrugged. "Sure."

"Er… Which option are you referring to?"

"Either one. Or both. It doesn't really matter to me, just so long as I'm able to wear everything."

"Well, if we count the belt as part of your pants, and count all the bracelets together, we can let the pendant stand alone, and you'll still have one more spot. Do you have any other articles of clothing you might want to wear?"

"Hmm… I might want to wear a dress at some point..."

"So long as you don't wear your pants at the same time, you can switch between pants, dresses, shorts, skirts, et cetera; whenever you want. The same goes for nightclothes- it's the part of the body it covers that matters."

Marle thought. "In that case, I can't really think of anything else..."

"Very well then, I'll give you a voucher for one article of clothing. If at any point, you are asked to remove, replace, reverse, or otherwise manipulate an article of clothing, you may use this voucher in its' place. However, you can only use it once."

"That'll be useful. Thanks. What now?"

"Now you simply sign here."

After she had signed the paper, he filed it away. Looking over at Crono and Lucca, he asked, "Next?""

Crono stepped forward, and Marle stepped aside.

After Crono had provided his information, it was Lucca's turn.

"I can't believe you guys talked me into this," she grumbled. "This is so stupid."

Bekkler looked up. "Of course it is. That's what makes it fun. Now, your name?"

Lucca sighed.

Once they were all signed in, Bekkler pointed out a rack of pamphlets. "The rules will all be explained as you go along, but if you'd like to have an idea what to expect, feel free to take a copy of them."

Crono grabbed one, and they prepared to leave. Marle decided to double check on when the game would start. "Next Monday, right?"

"That's right... at least, if we can get enough players... I'm afraid my advertising campaign wasn't as successful as I'd hoped."

"What do you mean?"

"We need twelve people to play the game properly. Counting you, we only have eight."

Marle thought about that, then a smile slowly spread across her face. "I think we just might be able to help you with that..."

o-o-o-o

While Belthasar went to the future to get the necessary parts for the Epoch, Crono and Marle decided to finish exploring this time period. Although Lucca wasn't too thrilled at the idea of playing the Funhouse, Marle's idea for recruiting more players intrigued her, so she was happy to stay behind and work on a new invention. Luccia even offered to help her.

After checking out some of the other islands of El Nido, Crono and Marle flew the Epoch north, to Choras.

The eastern continent, like El Nido, had yet to face the might of Porre, and in fact the only change that had occurred was that the Northern Ruins had been completely repaired. However, the structure was currently unoccupied, and rumor said that the place was still haunted.

When Crono, and Marle got back, Lucca and Luccia had completed their device.

Lucca began a long spiel about the machine. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present, the Temporal Teleporter, Mark Two! As you know, one of the limitations of the original Tel-E-Porter is that due to the Conservation of Time theorem, it is necessary to balance the mass traveling through sub-space. This means that when one wishes to translocate something or someone to one's current location, one must transfer a similar mass to the other location. However; what Luccia and I have done is to create a force-field which acts as a counterbalance, thus-"

"Oh, just get on with it!" Marle interrupted.

Lucca coughed. "Um, er- yes. Stand back." She pulled a lever on the device, then hastily moved away from the machine herself. The machine pulsed, bolts of blue energy sparked, and then there was a blinding flash of light.

When the light faded, Frog, Ayla, Robo, and Magus were standing there.

The four looked around at their surroundings.

Ayla asked, "Where we be? Ayla no seen this place before."

Marle explained. "That's right, this is a new time period. It's about twenty years after Lucca, Crono, and my home time- not that that really means much to you, Ayla."

Magus raised an eyebrow. "I thought the time periods we've already explored were the only ones the Epoch could go to?"

Lucca nodded. "That has always been the case. However, recently a time-traveling feline Mystic left instructions with Gaspar at the End of Time telling us how to program in the coordinates for this time-period. I tried it, it worked, and here we are."

Frog croaked, and spoke up. "Pardon me, but I have a question as well. Thou hast transported all four of us to this age, and yet ye three still remain. How is that possible?"

Lucca indicated the Teleporter. "It's all thanks to this device- the Temporal Teleporter Mark Two."

Marle moaned softly. "Here we go again."

"As you know, due to the Conservation of Time theorem, under most circumstances the original Tel-E-Porter requires an equal transfer of mass- that is, to teleport someone to us, we must send one of us away. But thanks to the modifications Luccia and I have made, the device can now-"

Ayla interrupted. "So you fix machine. Big yawn. Now tell, why you bring us here? You need us help fight?"

Marle shook her head. "Sorry, Ayla, no fight. At least, not a normal one. Actually, the reason we called you all here is that we found Belthasar, and he offered to upgrade the Epoch."

Frog protested, "Is the Guru Belthasar not dead?"

Lucca shook her head. "Not in this history. In this history, without Lavos to destroy civilization, technology kept advancing after 1999. When Belthasar was thrust into the future, he found technology much more advanced than the previous history, and was able to build his time machine much more easily. Also, part of the reason the other version of Belthasar died was the hostile climate of the world he was in."

"Ah."

Ayla asked, "What this upgrade thing you say he do?"

Marle explained, "He's going to make the Epoch better- faster, stronger, able to go to more points in time, that sort of thing."

"That good."

Marle continued, "Anyway, while he's upgrading the Epoch, we won't be able to travel through time. Instead of waiting at home, we thought we'd pass the time here and now, playing a game they have here. However, we don't have enough players, so I thought I'd invite you guys to play too."

Magus scowled. "You have got to be kidding me."

Robo responded, "I would be happy to assist you."

Ayla raised her fist and shook it, a wild grin on her face. "Ayla play game, Ayla win!"

Frog hesitated. "Pray tell, what sort of game dost thou refer to?"

Marle explained, "It's called the Funhouse. We stay in this house for a month, competing in all sorts of challenges and dares, and the winning team gets a lot of money."

Magus crossed his arms. "I don't have time this nonsense."

Lucca shook her head. "We didn't think you'd be interested – the main reason we transported you here was because we figured you would want to try looking for Schala in this time period."

Marle said, "**I** thought he might be interested." Turning to Magus, she said, "Come on, it should be fun!"

Magus scowled at her. Marle tried a puppy-dog-pout on him; he just scowled harder. After a minute or two of this, Marle's puppy-dog-pout began to weaken and change to a disappointed pout.

Magus finally spoke, saying simply, "No." Without a further word he turned and glided off.

Marle watched him leave for a few moments, her disappointment still showing on her face.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "I don't know why you even bothered, Marle. I don't think fun is even in his vocabulary."

Frog croaked. "Actually, I can attest that Magus does on the rare occasion take the time to enjoy what he considers 'fun'. If this were not so, I would have died a human the same day Cyrus died."

Lucca paused in surprise for a moment, then said, "Oh. Yeah."

Marle had by now had time to gather herself, and now turned to Frog hopefully. "So, what about you, Frog? Won't you play in the Funhouse with us?"

Frog thought about it for a few moments, then said grimly, "If it is thy highness's wish, then so be it." He nodded. "Yes, I shall assist thee."

"Aw, come on Frog, cheer up! I keep telling everybody, this is going to be fun!"

Lucca folded her arms. "Give it a rest, Marle. Not everybody enjoys this sort of thing."

o-o-o-o

After Crono's friends had all signed up, and had headed to Viper Manor to rest, Norstein Bekkler consulted with his associate.

"See?" the cat said. "I told you it would all work out..."

"We still need one more player," Bekkler reminded him.

Just then, a voice came from the main lobby. "Pardon moi, is anybody here?"

The cat raised his left eyebrow and smiled. "You were saying?"

o-o-o-o

...And soon, it was time for "the Funhouse" to begin...

* * *

_Author's Note: _

As long-term readers of this story may remember, Magus did not appear in the original version of this chapter, and throughout those portions of the story written prior to my 2006-2010 hiatus I was ambiguous about whether he even survived the events of Chrono Trigger.

However, I have came to realize that Magus couldn't be dead in this story – for one thing, as from the Trigger cast's perspective this is set after the scenes that play during Trigger's credits, Frog should be human if Magus was dead. For another, Cross strongly implies that he is alive, and this story accepts Cross as canon.

Furthermore, I now find those scenes where I went out of my way to avoid saying whether he was alive somewhat awkward, and it occurs to me that admitting he's alive opens up interesting story possibilities...


	2. Episode One

Crono Crossover: The Funhouse

Episode One

_**Day One**_:

"Crono...

"Crono!"

Crono woke up to see Marle at the side of his bed, looking down at him. "Come on, Crono, get up! If you don't get up soon, we'll be late!"

Crono rolled over and snuggled in the blankets.

Marle put her hands on her hips. "If you don't get up now, I'll go get Ayla to wake you up!"

Crono got up.

o-o-o-o

The bubba dingo charged at Leena. Calmly, she took her frying pan and bopped the dingo on the head, knocking it out.

As she continued through the pass, she fumed. "That Serge! Can't he ever get up on time? Well, if he misses starting time, that's his problem!"

o-o-o-o

"Why didn't you wake me?" Serge asked his mom as he hurriedly finished packing.

"I tried to, dear, but you kept saying, `five more minutes'."

"Well, you could have reminded me what day it was!"

Even as she helped him pack, she commented, "...I still think this Funhouse thing is a silly idea."

"Tell Leena that! Still, there's no way I'm going to go for a month without seeing her." He slammed the suitcase shut. "Wish me luck!" He picked up the suitcase and ran out the door.

o-o-o-o

Leena was astonished by the strange cast of characters who had assembled for the Funhouse. The three people who caught her eye the most were a frog demi-human, what appeared to be a fat man completely encased in armor, and a woman scantily clad in furs. Also waiting in Norstein Bekkler's lobby were three teenagers, approximately the same age as Leena and Serge: a boy with spiked red hair, a orange-blonde haired girl, and a girl with glasses and a helmet. Compared to the first three, these three seemed normal, but when she looked closely, Leena realized that not only was their clothing in the mainland style, but it seemed a bit old fashioned.

Leena set her luggage down, and continued studying this eccentric group. The two girls were deep in conversation, and the boy stood nearby, listening but not commenting. For a moment his silence reminded her of Serge, but she soon realized the two boys were quite different. Serge usually had a sad, yet somehow still innocent look to him, which intrigued her. In contrast, this boy was calm and confident, as if he felt nothing in the world could possibly harm him.

Leena turned her attention to the others. The fat armored guy stood perfectly still, gazing straight ahead. Leena wondered if there was really even anyone in the suit of armor, or if it was just something Bekkler had picked up.

The frog's expression was hard to read, but she thought he looked a bit uncomfortable. As for the woman in fur, she was pacing around the room restlessly.

_Well,_ thought Leena, _I'm going to need to get to know these people sooner or later, seeing as we'll be spending the month together..._ She gulped. _What have I gotten myself into?_

Not wanting to interrupt the girls' conversation, she walked over to the pacing woman. The woman stopped pacing and looked at her.

Leena introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Leena. I'm here to stay in the Funhouse. What about you?"

The woman smiled. "I stay in Funhouse too! I Ayla." She beat her chest with one fist as she said her name.

_Her grammar is atrocious! _Leena thought. "Hello, Ayla," she said.

Then Ayla stepped uncomfortably close to Leena, and sniffed. "You smell good. Like flower."

"Er... thank you." Leena tried to hide her surprise at Ayla's actions. Leena hadn't really liked the look of this woman to start with (good girls just didn't dress that way) and now Leena was even more uncomfortable. Excusing herself, she went to talk with the others.

She next introduced herself to the frog. She wasn't one to condemn someone for their appearance, but she had still heard tales of how wild and primitive demi-humans could be, so she was pleasantly surprised when the frog politely responded, "A pleasure to make thine acquaintance, fair maiden. Though 'tis not my true name, I am oft referred to as `Frog.' Thee may also address me thusly, if it pleases thee."

Leena was so caught off guard by this response she was speechless. Finally, she stammered, "W-well, I suppose I could call you that... if you want me to..."

Frog shrugged. "Thee might as well. 'Tis a fitting appellation."

"Well, nice to meet you, Frog."

Frog turned to look at his companions. "Perhaps I shouldst introduce thee to the others. Ayla thee hast already met..."

"That's right. Is she a friend of yours?"

"Truly, though 'tis an odd friendship..."

"I can imagine. No offense, but she really is a bit strange."

Frog nodded. "Aye, she doth often act in a most inappropriate manner. However, 'tis not her fault. She doth come from a far-off land, where customs vary greatly from our own. In that land they have little concept of manners or modesty. Thee must thus look beyond such things to see her truly."

"I'll keep that in mind." Leena couldn't imagine where Ayla could have possibly come from. Maybe some distant island that civilization had yet to reach?

Frog interrupted her musings. "Come, I shall introduce thee to Robo." He led Leena over to the fat suit of armor. "Robo, this fair maid is Leena, of Arni Village."

Robo bowed. "Greetings Mistress Leena. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Once again Leena was shocked by the stranger's politeness. This time she recovered quickly, and responded, "The pleasure's all mine."

She looked him up and down, and commented, "Pardon me, Mister Robo, but I've never seen armor quite like yours before."

"There is no need to call me `Mister'. Robo will do. As for my armor, it is understandable you have not seen it before: my armor was custom made."

"I see. Do you plan on wearing it in the Funhouse?"

"Affirmative."

"But... isn't it a bit uncomfortable?"

"Negative. I am a robot- I am incapable of feeling discomfort. Furthermore, the armor is very well made- if I were capable of such sensations, I am certain I would find it most comfortable."

Leena was taken aback. "What did you say you were?"

"I am an R Series robot."

"A robot? What's that?"

"The term robot can refer to any machine capable of independent movement, but in this case I use it in its' more specific form, to mean a machine built in humanoid form and given artificial intelligence."

Frog explained, "He is a machine brought to life. I at first assumed there was some sorcery involved, but he has since informed me that he is merely a product of advanced science, if thee canst believe such a thing."

"Amazing."

Frog then took Leena over to Crono and the girls. "Pardon me. I would like to introduce to you this young lady, who shall be joining us in the Funhouse. Her name is Leena."

"Hello, Leena."

"Nice to meet you."

Crono nodded in acknowledgment.

Frog continued, "Leena, this is Lucca, Marle, and Sir Crono."

Lucca said, "Frog, I thought I told you not to call him that here!"

"Err... yes, I forgot."

Marle sighed. "At least he remembered to call me Marle."

Leena gave them a strange look. "What else would he call her?"

Lucca scowled at Marle. Marle said, "Uh... That's a long story. I'll tell you some other time."

A little while later, Norstein Bekkler entered the Lobby. "Welcome, welcome. I assume you're all here for the Funhouse? Please come sign in. I see not all the players have arrived yet; we shall wait a little while to give them a chance to arrive before we begin the game."

As they were signing in, a man walked in. "I hope I am not late."

"No, you're right on time, Pierre" Bekkler assured him. "Come over here and sign in."

Leena studied him. Leena couldn't help but admire his handsome face... but his clothes were another matter. He was dressed outlandishly, like a noble with bad taste. He wore a wide-brimmed blue hat with a long feather, a blue jacket, a tunic that was long enough to pass as a skirt, bright green hose, boots, and gloves. He carried himself with such a self-important air that Leena took an immediate disliking to him.

After he had signed in he said in a loud enough voice for all to hear, "Bonjour. I am sure you all have heard of me, but in case you haven't, I am zee famous hero Pierre." He looked around at the others. "Quite an odd assortment here, oui? Well I suppose I should not be surprised... the promise of money always seems to attract riff-raff."

Lucca whispered to Marle, "He must be referring to himself." Marle giggled at this.

Pierre continued, "I warn zose of you with dishonorable motives, I shall be watching you, so don't try anything funny. Ladies, don't worry, I'll keep you safe."

Marle whispered to Lucca, "Oh, my hero!" They both giggled.

Meanwhile, Robo spoke to Frog. "Frog, have you observed Mister Pier's clothing?"

"Aye, most outlandish."

"Did you notice the medal he wears?"

Frog looked more carefully, then gasped. "The Hero's medal!"

"Affirmative."

Frog croaked unhappily. "If the Hero's Medal has fallen to such a one as he, I greatly fear for the fate of the Masamune..."

Next to arrive were a teenage boy and girl. The girl wore a short skirt and a vest, both red; gloves, boots, and a tight shirt that exposed her midriff. In a strange contrast, though, she also had her blonde hair in a ponytail tied with many pink ribbons.

The boy wore even less than the girl- a loincloth, a vest, gloves, and some sort of white tape wrapped around his feet.

Bekkler welcomed them, and they signed in.

As the girl signed in, the boy looked around. "Strange bunch here, don't 'cha think?"

The girl finished signing, and looked at the other player. "I suppose so, Korcha. Hey is that-? I can't believe they're here, now!"

The girl ran over to where Leena, Lucca, and Marle were talking. "Marle! Lucca! Crono! What're you blokes doin' here?"

The three stared at her. Marle asked, "Do we know you?"

The girl paused. "Good question. Have you been to the Kingdom of Zeal yet?"

The three glanced at each other.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "And what do you know about the Kingdom of Zeal?"

"Quite a bit, actually. I did use to live there, after all."

Marle burst out, "But Zeal was destroyed, thousands of years ago!"

The girl shrugged. "So? The three gurus survived, didn't they? So did my brother, for that matter."

Lucca's eyes widened. "I thought there was something familiar about you... Your brother... His name wouldn't happen to be Janus, would it?"

The girl nodded. "You got it."

Marle gasped, "But that would mean, you're..."

The girl nodded again and smiled. "That's right. Princess Schala, Heir to the long forgotten throne of Zeal."

"Schala! I can't believe you managed to escape the Ocean Palace. Thank goodness!" Marle ran to her and gave her a hug.

Schala smiled at this. "By the way, please call me Kid. That's what I go by these days."

Trying to follow the conversation, Leena asked, "You know her?"

Lucca nodded. "She's an old friend."

Releasing Kid, and regaining her composure, Marle asked, "But, how did you escape the Ocean Palace? And what's with the new look?"

"Well, that's a long story... and I'm not sure here and now is the right place and time to tell it. For now, let's just say, I managed to escape, but I had to change myself a bit to do it..."

Then she caught everyone by surprise by rushing to Lucca and giving her a hug. "I've missed you so much, Sis!"

"Sis?" Lucca and Marle wondered.

"I'll explain later," Kid said, still holding on to Lucca. Lucca reluctantly hugged her back.

After a few minutes, Kid finally released Lucca. Cocking her head, she asked, "Say, doesn't my brother normally hang out with you guys?"

Marle blinked. "How did you know that? For that matter, how did you know he survived?"

"I'll explain that later too," Kid promised.

Marle said, "Yeah, Ma- I mean, Janus has came with us on some of our adventures." She frowned. "He's in this time period right now, off looking for you. We don't really have any way of getting in contact with him though..."

Kid frowned as well. "Damn. I'm really anxious to see him... But I also was hoping to be a part of this game." She put her hand to her chin in thought.

o-o-o-o

A little while later, Serge finally arrived. "About time!" Leena commented.

After he had signed in, Leena began introducing him to everybody. But when he saw Kid, his eyes widened. "Kid? What're you doing here?"

She laughed. "What, can't a girl have some fun every now and then? I figured, we just saved the world, we deserve a vacation."

Leena stared at them. "**You** know her, too?"

"Yeah, this is the girl I told you about, the one who helped me out when I ended up in the other world."

"But, that was only a dream!"

Kid smiled. "More like a nightmare. Luckily for the world, Serge and I put an end to it!"

Leena was now very confused.

Noticing Korcha, Serge asked, "Hey, you're in this too, Korcha?"

"Yeah, Kid convinced me. But how do you know me?"

"Oh, yeah, it was the other Korcha that helped me out."

Kid shook her head. "There **is** no other world any more. Both versions of the world were combined. But you and I are the only ones that remember either of the old versions- or our adventures."

"Oh."

Serge turned back to Leena. "What did you mean by `too'?"

Leena explained, "Kid already knew some of the other players."

"Oh, yeah, that's right!" Kid exclaimed. "Serge, I'd like to introduce you to some old friends of mine. This is Crono, Marle, and Lucca."

Serge gave a start at that last name. He looked at her, then at Kid. "Lucca? But wasn't that the name of...?"

"Yeah. Long story. I'll explain later. For now, let me introduce you to the others."

But, just then, a woman's voice rang out. "Oh, zee rest of you are already here? Zen I arrived just in time."

Leena couldn't help but stare at the girl- she was the strangest of all the contestants yet. She was dressed like a court jester or a clown, even down to white face-paint with a tear below her right eye. But unlike most jesters and clowns, she wore transparent blue harem pants.

"Bonjour, mon adversaries. I am Harle, but you may call me `ze winner.`"

As she walked over to the desk to sign in, she swung her hips in a seductive fashion. Leena turned to Serge, and noticed him watching her intently.

"What are you looking at?" Leena asked with her hands on her hips.

"Huh? Oh, she's another one of the people I met on my adventure... but I thought she was dead!"

Kid reminded him, "That was a different course of history, remember?"

"But if she's still alive, then..."

"That's right, Lynx is also alive."

Serge looked frightened. "You mean, we're going to have to go through all that again?"

"You mean fighting over the Frozen Flame? That'd be pointless- it was destroyed with the Time Devourer. Of course, I'd still like to kick his arse to the moon for what he did to Sis, but that's personal. Ya don't need to come along if ya don't want ta."

"Hey, you're my friend. We should stick together." Serge added hesitantly, "...Although, he was my father before FATE took control of him. If there was some way to change him back..."

Kid frowned. She hadn't considered that complication before. She wondered if it would be possible to restore Serege's father to his old self? If it was, she might have to put aside her vengeance for Serge's sake...

When Harle was done signing in, she walked over to Serge. "Oo la la. You must be zis 'Serge' Monsieur Lynx 'as told me so much about. You are even more 'andsome zen I imagined."

Leena and Kid scowled at her.

Leena told her, "Don't get any ideas. He's my boyfriend."

Kid folded her arms and demanded, "Where is he, Harle?"

"Whom would you be talking about?"

"Lynx, of course."

Harle raised an eyebrow and said, "I am afraid I have not seen him lately."

"Ya expect us to believe that? You're like his shadow. Where he goes, you go."

Harle shook her head. "I am sad to say Monsieur Lynx and I 'ave 'ad -'ow you say- a 'falling out'. It all 'appened a few months ago. We were preparing to set ze trap for Serge 'ere, when all of a sudden, Monsieur Lynx went, -'ow you say— 'crazy'! He said zat ze Frozen Flame 'ad been destroyed, and he lost all 'is ambition. I 'ave been forced to continue my search for ze Flame alone since zen."

"I see. So he sensed it. That makes things easier. Just so you know, Harle, he was right. The bloody Flame has been destroyed."

"Impossible! Such a t'ing cannot be true. I 'ave worked all my life to find ze flame, and I will not give up, whatever you say!"

Kid's eyes softened. "I know what you are, Harle. You should be able to sense the Flame's destruction too. Listen to your heart."

Harle scowled at her. "And what would you know about such tings?"

"Trust me."

Just then, Norstein Bekkler interrupted them. "Well, now that you're all here, we can start the game."

As Bekkler flew over to his desk and picked up a sheet of paper, Marle asked Kid, "So, have you decided what you're going to do?"

Kid nodded. "I'm going to play this game for now, and I'll look for my brother when the game is over or I'm out. We've both waited so long, a few more weeks isn't going to hurt anything." She looked a little uncertain, like she wasn't sure she was making the right decision.

Bekkler returned to the group, and said, "I have sorted your registrations, and randomly placed each of you in one of the two teams. The only criteria I used to determine your placement was that there should be an equal number of men and women in each group. Um, incidentally, I counted Robo as male, even though robots have no gender.

"I'm going to tell you who is on which team now. Team one, please stand to my left, team two to my right. Alright then... Crono, you're in team one."

Crono walked over to Bekkler's left.

"Frog, you are in team two."

Frog went over to Bekkler's right.

"Lucca, team one."

Lucca joined Crono. "Nice to see we'll be staying together."

Crono nodded.

Bekkler continued, "Marle, team two."

"Aww, man! I wanted to be in the same team as Crono and Lucca!"

Bekkler spread his hands apologetically. "Sorry, as I said, the choices were random."

Marle sighed. As she walked over to Frog, Frog tried to comfort her. "Fear not. Whilst it is unfortunate that we shall be separated from our comrades, I shall be honored to serve on the same team as you, my lady."

Bekkler cleared his throat. "Continuing, Robo, you're in team one. Korcha? Team two. Ayla, team one. Kid, two."

Korcha breathed a sigh of relief when Kid joined his team. "Glad we ended up together."

Bekkler continued, "Serge, one. Pierre, two. Leena, one." Serge also breathed a sigh of relief- the only reason he'd entered the game was to spend time with Leena. "And finally, of course, Harle, you go to team two."

Kid rolled her eyes. "That figures."

After a slight pause, Bekkler told them, "When I say "go", you will pass through that door," he said, gesturing to the gate at the back of the room, "and enter my maze. At the end of the maze lies your living quarters. The first group to get all its' members to the goal will win the right to choose which of the two sets of living quarters they wish to stay in for the rest of the game. In addition, tomorrow that team will have the opportunity to win six points- that's six hundred GP- for their team.

"Now, before you begin, I wish to set down some house rules. Once you have settled down in your apartments, you may leave them whenever you wish. However, not much of the Funhouse will be open to you at the beginning of the game.

"If you wish, you may let members of the other team into your rooms, however, only six people can sleep in one set of apartments at a time, and prior to every night spent in the other team's apartments, you must spend two consecutive nights in your own.

"In the center of the living area is the Dare Room- this is where you shall gather each day before performing your challenges and dares. It shall be constantly monitored at all times, so if any point you wish to forfeit the game, head to the dare room and call out that you give up. My staff will come to escort you out. If for some reason, you can not get to the dare room, tell one of the other players, or any of my staff. If someone tells you they wish to forfeit, report it in the dare room: failing to do so will be punished.

"Furthermore, the dare room is where you should go if you need a rule clarified- myself or my staff should be on hand to answer any questions you might have, just call out.

"Each week, each team will be provided with an allotment of food for their cupboards, which must last you the week, unless you win the right to use the cafeteria. If you run out of food, we shall provide you with enough to keep you from starving, but only just, so it might be wise to ration your food.

"You shall undoubtedly wish your clothes washed- place your soiled clothes in the team hamper, and my staff will take care of it. However, keep in mind, the staff shall only be handling the laundry once a day- if you run out of clean clothes after the laundry has been delivered, you shall have to wait until the next day to get any clean clothes back.

"We would ask that you all abide by the law, and play fairly. If you wish, you may spar with each other, but please refrain from actual fighting. Anyone we feel is a threat to the other players' life or health shall be removed from the house, and any illegal acts conducted in here shall be reported to the Dragoons.

"Finally, I wish to assure you that we are working in full cooperation with the Acacia Dragoons to ensure the complete safety of these game. All of our contests meet General Viper's most stringent safety rules, and all contests and any dangerous dares shall be closely monitored. Inside these walls, you have nothing to fear but fear itself...

"Any questions?"

Harle raised her hand. "Yes, moi has a question."

"Yes, Harle?"

"Why is it you have no body?"

Bekkler blinked. "I meant, a question about the game."

"Oh. Never mind."

Bekkler looked around. "Anyone else have any questions? No? All right, then. In that case, I would like to introduce to you the creator of this game, the immortal God of Time himself, Chronos!"

There was a flash of blue light, and standing before them was a feline demi-human. His fur was tan, with black tiger stripes, but he also had a lion's mane, made of long, glowing blue hair. Perhaps the most startling thing about him, though, was that he wore only a denim jacket, left open. Marle and Lucca blushed, and Leena, Korcha, and Pierre made faces of disgust.

Harle burst out, "Oo la la! He iz even more 'andsome and manly zen Monsieur Lynx!"

Pierre, in contrast, said, "Zis is an outrage! Monsieur Chronos, you really should put on some clothes before appearing in public!"

Chronos rolled his eyes. "This is why I prefer spending time on Mobius... Anyways, thank you all for coming. I know some of you had to come a bit out of your way to get here, but I think you will find it was worth it." He looked at Crono and his companions. "Crono, Marle, Lucca, I'm glad you decided to come. It was a lot of work to arrange for you to be here. I hope this glimpse of what's to come, and the upgrades to the Epoch, will help you on your quest. In the meantime, I also hope you'll enjoy the Funhouse."

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "You're the one who gave Gaspar the letter telling us how to get here, aren't you?"

Chronos nodded. "I'm the one."

Marle said, "But that would mean…"

Chronos smiled. "They don't call me the God of Time for nothing! Well, actually, not all that many people call me the god of time, which is understandable since I'm not really a god, but... Anyways, I didn't mean to hold you up. I just came to wish you all luck," he said, his eyes scanning over all the players, "and that you all have fun, no matter how strange things get.

"Well then, let the games begin! And, until we meet again..." He held up his right hand, gave them a two-fingered salute, and said, "Stay frosty!"

And with that, there was another blue flash of light, and he vanished.

The entire group stared. Then Norstein Bekkler clapped his hands. "Well, you heard him. Let's start the game. As I said before, first team to the finish line chooses their apartment. On my mark, get ready, go!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o  
The Funhouse: Preliminary Round  
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

The players all rushed down the dimly lit stone hall. At the end were two ways to go. Crono jerked his thumb to the left. Used to his silent instructions, Lucca, Ayla, and Robo started to follow.

Leena said, "Hey, who made him the leader? I think we should follow Serge!"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "We don't have time for this. We have to keep moving if we want to win. Crono made a perfectly good suggestion, let's follow it!"

Meanwhile, the other group had also stopped. Frog looked to Marle. "Where to, thy high- er, my lady?"

"Um...?"

Pierre said grandiosely, "Fear not, I shall make ze decision!"

Kid suggested, "Let's go right."

Marle shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

Harle interjected, "I think we should go to ze left."

Kid shot back, "Nobody asked you. Let's go." Frog, Marle, Kid, and Korcha headed down the corridor, leaving Pierre to scramble after them. Harle ignored them, and stood there waiting to see what the other team would do.

Serge watched as they went around a corner, and out of sight. Realizing that Lucca was right, he put his hand on Leena's shoulder, and jerked his thumb at the left corridor, in a gesture remarkably like what Crono had done.

"You think we should go left, too? Oh, fine." They headed left, and Harle followed.

Meanwhile, Marle, Kid, Frog, and Korcha found themselves facing a pool of green slime. The surface of the slime was about three feet below floor level. Along the left side, the wall of the pool was continuous with the wall of the hall, but on the right side there was a lip of floor about six inches wide.

Marle looked at the pool of slime. "Gross!"

Korcha said, "I guess we're supposed ta walk along the edge there."

Marle nodded, and started across, her back to the wall, inching along. Korcha followed closely after her.

Just then, panting, Pierre caught up with them.

Meanwhile, Frog was examining the slime. He carefully put one foot in, and found that it only sunk a few inches.

"What are you doing there?" Kid asked.

"Methinks the ledge is just a decoy, to delay us." He put his other foot down in the slime, then took a few cautious steps out into the pool. "It would appear the muck is barely ankle deep."

"Well, well, isn't that clever." Kid hopped down into the pool, and began leisurely walking across the pool, letting Frog hop ahead. She turned back to Pierre. "Come on, the slime isn't deep."

"You must be joking. And dirty my boots? No, I think not." He took the side route, inching carefully along, as Marle and Korcha were doing.

Korcha looked at Pierre and Marle, then down at Kid, who had already passed them, and Frog, who was now climbing up the other side of the pool. He shrugged, and jumped down into the pool.

Marle had a disgusted look on her face. "Korcha, how can you do that?"

"What?"

"Walk in slime with bare feet. That's so disgusting!"

"Ah, it's not that bad. I've walked through worse."

"Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to stay up here. I may not be barefoot, but these sandals aren't going to do much to keep my feet clean."

"Suit cha self." He headed across.

Soon, Frog, Kid, and Korcha were assembled on the other side of the pool. Korcha put his hands to his hips. "Come on, ya two! Hurry it up! This is a race, ya know?"

Marle bit her lip. "Hold on a moment, I'm almost there." She glanced over at Pierre, who was barely halfway across, and was moving so slowly it hardly seemed he was moving at all. "What's your problem?" she asked. "You're wearing boots! I'm only still up here because I don't want to get my feet dirty."

"You don't understand. Do you have any idea how much these clothes of mine cost? Besides, I cannot change my clothes until we are reunited with our luggage."

Marle sighed, and rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile, Crono, Lucca, Serge, Leena, Robo, Ayla and Harle also found themselves faced with a pit. Rising from the pit was a series of platforms, the same level as the floor. About five feet below this lay a red, bubbling liquid.

"Is that lava?" Leena asked. "I thought this game was supposed to be safe!"

Robo answered, "Negative. Infrared scans indicate temperature of liquid insufficient for lava."

Lucca nodded. "I was thinking the air felt a bit cool for that to be lava."

Without hesitating, Crono hopped on one of the platforms, and began jumping across. Ayla quickly followed. As she could jump farther and faster than Crono, she took a different route, and made it to the end first.

Meanwhile, Leena asked Harle suspiciously, "What are you doing here? This isn't your team."

"So? I do not recall a rule saying we must stay with our own team."

Lucca noted, "She has a point."

Serge hopped onto one of the platforms, and was quickly followed by Leena and Harle.

Lucca shrugged. "Well, Robo, let's go!" They followed the path Crono had taken, but hesitated between jumps, measuring them in their heads before making them.

Meanwhile, Leena and Harle both jumped onto one platform at the same time, one that was too small to properly hold both of them. As they tried to keep their balance, Leena said, "What are you doing?"

"Following monsieur Serge, obviously."

Leena grabbed two long tassels hanging from Harle's neck, partly in anger and partly to keep her balance. "I told you to stay away from Serge! He's mine!"

Harle pushed at Leena, trying to get her free. "Zen I shall steal him from you, if I must. I never allow anyt'ing to stand in my way."

Finally, Leena lost her grip, and they both tumbled over the edge. Leena landed with a splat on her rear, in the bubbling red liquid, which turned out to be about two and a half feet deep. Harle, on the other hand, recovered before she hit the stuff, and began floating. She landed back on the platform and looked down at Leena.

Leena sat there in the red slime, her face beginning to flush with embarrassment. "You're going to pay for that, Harle!" She grabbed a handful of the red slime, and tossed it at Harle.

Harle raised an eyebrow in a superior expression. "Now, now, don't be so childish." She deftly grabbed the ball of slime out of the air, and tossed it back in Leena's face.

Serge looked down at Leena with concern. He hopped down into the bubbling slime, and walked over to her. "Are you alright?" he asked, helping her to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just embarrassed."

Serge helped her wipe off her face, then they began walking to the other side. Harle floated down to the surface of the slime, and began walking on top of it after them.

Meanwhile, Lucca miscalculated on a jump, but Robo grabbed her. "You're jumping ability is not sufficient for this task. Allow me to assist." He put her up on his shoulder, and continued carefully jumping across.

Back at the other slime pool, Marle had made it across, but Pierre had, if anything, slowed down even more. Korcha tapped his foot impatiently, and Marle suppressed a shudder looking at the sticky green slime covering that foot.

Loosing his patience, Korcha jumped back down into the pool, and walked over to Pierre. He grabbed Pierre and slung him over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Pierre demanded.

"What does it look like? We don't have time to wait for ya t' make it across, and ya don't want to get cha precious boots dirty, so I'm carrying ya."

"I am ze greatest 'ero of zis age, ze noblest of ze noble, ze bravest of ze brave. I refuse to be carried like a sack of potatoes. I demand zat you put me down zis instant!"

Korcha looked at the others and gave a sly smile. He let go of Pierre, who tumbled into the slime.

As Pierre got up onto his knees, he looked down at himself in disgust. "My clothes, zey are ruined!"

Kid and Marle couldn't help but giggle at this scene.

Pierre slowly rose to his feet, and said coldly, his voice almost cracking, "Zat was not what I meant, and you know it."

Korcha said impatiently, "Come on, we're loosing time."

Without saying a word, Pierre strode to the others.

o-o-o-o

Unfortunately for Serge and Leena, the floor of the red slime pit was so low that they couldn't climb out at the far end.

Lucca, from her vantage point on top of Robo, looked around. "There's a ladder up the side of the pit on the side we started on," she reported.

Ayla shook her head. "We no have time for that- this race! I help." She knelt down above Serge and Leena and held out her hand. Serge helped Leena get a good grip on Ayla's arm, and Ayla lifted her out.

Lucca called down to Harle, "You know, with your ability to float, you could help, too."

"But I am on ze other team. It would not be right for me to assist ze enemy."

Ayla now reached down to grab Serge's arm.

Harle said, "On second thought, who says ze teams cannot assist each other?" She grabbed Serge under the arms, and, embracing him, floated up to the hallway floor.

"Get your hands off him!" Leena said angrily.

Just then, Robo made his final jump, and landed among them with a thud. He put Lucca down.

Crono waved for them to follow him, then headed on down the hall. As the others began to file out, Serge helped Leena wipe the slime off her dress. "Well, at least the stuff doesn't stain," she said with relief.

The two of them, followed by Harle, hurried on after the others.

o-o-o-o

When Korcha and Pierre had climbed out of the green slime pit, Kid led the team on, down the hall and around a corner to the left. Soon they found themselves at a spinning tube they must pass through. On the other side, the walls were colored bright colors, and cheerful music played.

"Well, I guess that's why they call it a fun house," Kid commented. She stepped into the tube, and made her way thorough.

Continuing down the hall, Crono found a side passage heading to the right, then turning to run parallel to the main hall. Ahead in the main hall was another obstacle- another pit, and this time the way across seemed to be rings hanging from the ceiling. Crono motioned for the others to follow him to the pit.

This time, the pit was an opening to the floor below, where a cushion awaited any who would fall from the rings.

Meanwhile, Serge and Leena arrived at the side passage. Serge hesitated.

Leena asked, "You want to go this way?"

Harle grabbed his arm and pulled at him. "Very well zen, let us go!"

Serge shook his head. "We should stick together." He led the girls on to catch up with the others.

o-o-o-o

Kid and her companions now found themselves making their way through a maze of distorted mirrors.

Kid warned them all, "Everyone, stay close together. We don't want to loose anyone."

Crono made it across the rings, with some difficulty, and Ayla made it look easy. Lucca, however, didn't have enough speed or upper body strength, and fell to the cushion below. Leena was able to achieve enough momentum, but was unable to test her upper body strength, as her still somewhat slimy hands slipped. Harle went next, and made it look just as easy as Ayla had.

"Come, Serge, mon ami, you can do it, I am certain!"

Serge shook his head. He jumped down to Leena and Lucca, then called up to Crono, "You go on ahead!"

Harle couldn't believe this, but quickly regained her composure, and floated down to Serge. "I t'ink I shall take ze low road."

Robo examined the rope holding up the first ring. "Analysis indicates this rope has insufficient tensile strength to support my weight."

Crono nodded, and waved Robo down to the others.

"Affirmative." Robo jumped down. Crono looked at Ayla and shrugged. Then he too jumped off the edge. Ayla followed.

Lucca demanded, "What are you doing?"

Crono answered, "We have to stick together."

Harle said in surprise, "He can talk! I was beginning to wonder."

o-o-o-o

Kid's group had made it out of the mirror maze, and now had to run down a hall with the floor of a giant treadmill, pushing them back. Pierre was in the rear, and was panting with the effort.

o-o-o-o

In the lower level, Serge, Crono, and the others had to scramble over and around boulders that filled the corridor.

o-o-o-o

"Another dead end?" Marle complained.

After catching her breath, Kid said, "Come on, back the way we came."

o-o-o-o

Ayla scampered up the stairway, which was moving down like an escalator. The others had a tougher time of it.

o-o-o-o

Korcha tossed another ball into the basket, and it sunk down even more. There was a click, and the door opened.

o-o-o-o

Ayla set the boulder down on the switch.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "There, now we can all pass through the door, without having to worry about it closing when it stops being pressed.

o-o-o-o

"You think this might be it?" Kid asked, pointing to a door marked "GOAL". She opened it. Through it was a hall, with aqua walls. Nearby were two red doors, one on each side. A ways down the hall was a room, with a large platform in the center of it.

"Come on." They followed her through the door, and down the hall to the room with the platform. The platform was about three feet high, and on it was a colorful wheel, like a roulette wheel. The wheel was divided into several sections. Some had roman numerals on them, while others had pictures of characters from a deck of cards, like Kings, Queens, and Jokers.

The room was a square, with halls leading from each corner, forming an intersection. Painted on the floor were the signs of the compass, and the halls lined up along these points.

Each of the four halls (including the one they came down) was the same length, but the walls of each hall were different. To the left, or west, was a hall with one aqua wall (the southern wall), and one wall of windows looking outside. The corridor to the north also had a glass wall, on the left, while to the right was a bare stone wall. Both walls of the hall to the east were stone.

On the Northwestern wall of the room was a chart with all of the players' names on it. Below each person's name was a line completely blank except for a zero. Above this chart was a series of ten black squares.

On the northeastern wall of the room was a chalkboard. The only thing written on the chalkboard was the word "Dares".

The southwestern wall had a large painting of a mountain on it, while the southeastern wall had several smaller paintings on it.

…With his trademark cackle, Norstein Bekkler floated down from the ceiling. "Welcome to the dare room, the goal of the maze. I'd congratulate you on your victory, except you need all of your team-mates here to win, and two of your team appear to be missing."

Marle was surprised. "Two?" She looked around. "Hey, Pierre's gone!"

Kid was upset. "What? When did we loose him?"

Marle shrugged. "I wasn't keeping an eye on him."

Kid looked to Frog and Korcha. "What about you two? Either of you see him?"

Frog shook his head. "Nay, the last time I recall seeing him was in the glass maze."

Marle responded, "He was with us after that- I remember he had a hard time with the conveyor belt."

Kid looked to Korcha. "What about you?"

He shrugged. "Don't look at me."

Marle said, "We have to go back and find him- and Harle, too."

Kid shook her head. "No. It won't do us any good to get ourselves lost in that blasted maze again. For all we know, Pierre might be right behind us. And as for Harle, I'm willin' ta bet she's followin' Serge. If we're lucky, she's slowing them down. If not, she'll still get here when he does."

o-o-o-o

Crono jerked his thumb at the door marked "GOAL" and raised an eyebrow. Serge shrugged and nodded, and Crono opened it and headed through.

"Excuse moi," Harle said, cutting in front of Lucca.

"Hey!" Lucca protested, trying to stop her.

Harle ran to the rest of her team. "I hope I have not kept you waiting too long?"

Kid folded her arms. "That depends on if that's the entire blinkin' other team coming through that door."

"Unfortunately, yes. Zey insisted on sticking together. But zat does not matter, does it? We have won, no?"

"No."

"What?"

"We lost that bloomin' idiot Pierre somewhere."

"Oh, how unfortunate. You should have been paying more attention. Ah, well, next time I will keep an eye on you, so you don't ruin my chances of winning ze game."

Kid scowled at her.

When the last of Crono and Serge's team had passed through the door, Bekkler announced, "And the winning team of the preliminary maze challenge is, Team One!"

Kid shook her head in disappointment.

Crono went into a crouch as he pumped his right fist. Lucca shook her left fist and thrust her right arm into the air. Ayla thrust her left arm into the air with her hand in a fist and let out a cheer. Deciding that if everyone else was doing their victory poses he might as well too, Robo widened his stance and held his own fist just above and in front of his head for a moment.

Serge, Leena, Harle, Kid, and Korcha all stared at them.

* * *

_The Fun has only begun! Stay tuned for the next episode of "Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse"!_


	3. Episode Two

Crono Crossover: The Funhouse

Episode Two:  
Preliminary Round Part 1 (Continued)

Previously: The various contestants gathered for the Funhouse. Bekkler divided them into two teams, and the teams competed against each other in a race through a Funhouse themed maze. The reward: first choice of Team apartments, and an opportunity to win six points.

* * *

**Character Scoreboard:**

Team One:

_**Crono:  
**_Clothing: shirt & bracelets; pants; socks; boots; underwear; vest; bandanna; scarf  
Points: 0

_**Lucca:  
**_Clothing: shirt; leotard shorts; socks; boots; underwear; bra; tunic & scarf; helmet; (glasses not counted as clothing)  
Points: 0

_**Robo:  
**_Clothing: armor; helmet; Heavy leather tassels; 7 vouchers.  
Points: 0

_**Ayla:  
**_Clothing: cuffs; boots; top; loincloth; tail scarf; 3 vouchers.  
Points: 0

_**Serge:  
**_Clothing: shirt; shorts; socks; boots; underwear; vest; bandanna; gloves  
Condition: Red slime on legs  
Points: 0

_**Leena:  
**_Clothing: dress; socks; sandals; panties; bra; shawl; headband; bracelets;  
Condition: Red slime on dress, hands, face (mostly wiped off)  
Points: 0

.

Team Two:

_**Frog:  
**_Clothing: armor; pants; boots; cape; gloves; Hero's medal; 2 vouchers  
Conditions: Green slime on boots  
Points: 0

_**Marle:  
**_Clothing: Shirt; pants & belt; sandals; underwear(?); bra(?); hair-band; bracelets; pendant; 1 voucher;  
Points: 0

_**Korcha:  
**_Clothing: foot wrappings; loincloth; vest; pony tail band; gloves; 3 vouchers;  
Condition: Green slime on feet  
Points: 0

_**Kid:  
**_Clothing: tight shirt; skirt; foot wrappings; boots; panties; vest; pendant & ribbons; gloves;  
Condition: Green slime on boots  
Points: 0

_**Pierre:  
**_Clothing: long tunic; hose; socks; boots; jacket; hat; gloves; Hero's Medal;  
Condition: Green slime on front of body, face  
Points: 0

_**Harle:  
**_Clothing: shirt; harem pants; fluffy socks; jester's shoes; panties; bra; Jester hat (has long neck tassels, and fluffy earrings); gloves;  
Points: 0

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

"Congratulations on your victory," Norstein Bekkler told team one. "As I mentioned previously, as a reward, you shall have your choice of rooms, and tomorrow you shall have the chance to win some extra money for your team." He gestured down the hall they had just walked through. "Through the doors to the left and right are the two apartments. Why don't you go take a look at them, and see if you can decide which one you want?"

Crono, Lucca, Robo, and Ayla went into the door to the west first (the left-hand door when entering the hall from the maze), while Leena dragged Serge into the other one.

Leena and Serge found themselves in a large room with few furnishings other than some simple wooden chairs and a plain wooden table. The floor and walls were bare, gray stone. There were several torches on the wall, unlit. The ceiling was vaulted above them, with windows in the arch of the ceiling letting in a good amount of light.

The room was longer north-to-south than east-to-west, and at the northern end, it made a corner to the east. Around this corner was the bathroom, which was a bit more public than Leena liked. The toilet was in a stall, and the shower had curtains which would provide a certain level of privacy, but the rest of the bathroom, including the sink, was open to the main room.

Against the north wall of the main room was a set of cupboards, filled with junk food. There was also a refrigerator, with soda and other drinks.

The east wall of the main room had a door, which led into the bedroom. The bedroom was lit by several torches with which they could see three bunk beds- enough to bed all six players.

Meanwhile, Crono and the gang found themselves in a much more cozy room. It had walls covered in red wallpaper, and with several paintings (all generic landscapes). The floor had a red rug on it, a big cushioned chair, and a nice couch. To the left, against the south wall were several cupboards and a refrigerator, like in the gray room (these cupboards and refrigerator were also stocked with junk food). Unfortunately, it was a rather small room, and even with just four people standing in it, it felt crowded.

Lucca commented, "With all six of us, this place is going to be pretty cramped."

Ayla didn't like it. "Too small," she said simply.

Through the door on the north wall was a beautiful bathroom, with marble tiled floor and walls. The room's northeast corner was a fifth wall, at an angle with the other walls. The tub was against this wall, set in a tiled platform with a bit of extra space to the sides. The sink was against the south wall, to one's left when entering the room, and the toilet was against the remaining part of the north wall.

Through the door on the west wall of the red room, was the bedroom. It was rather spacious, and very comfortable looking, with a dresser and several end tables. The beds were large and soft, with satin sheets. Unfortunately, there were only three beds. "That could be a problem," Lucca commented.

"Problem? What problem?" Ayla asked.

The gang then checked out the gray room, while Leena and Serge checked out the red room.

In the gray room, Ayla spread her arms wide. "This much better!"

Lucca shook her head. "No way. This place is way too Spartan. It doesn't even feel like a place to live."

They all met in the Dare Room. Lucca asked Leena, "So, what do you think?"

"Definitely the red room. The gray room was too impersonal."

Lucca nodded. "Agreed. What about the rest of you?"

Crono shrugged. Robo said, "I shall abide by your decision, Lucca."

Serge didn't really care either, but decided to agree with Leena. "The red room."

Ayla was the only one who advocated for the gray room. "Stone room bigger! More room run around, stretch!"

Lucca shrugged. "Sorry, Ayla, but it looks like you're overruled." She turned to Bekkler. "We'll go with the red room."

"Do all of you agree to this?" Even Ayla consented, seeing she was beat.

"Very well then. We've brought your luggage in, so you may grab it and go get settled in. From now on, you are the Red Team. As for the rest of you," he said, turning to team two, "You are now the Gray Team. You may take your bags and head down the hall to the door on the left."

They headed for their rooms.

"They expect me to live in this?" Marle said in outrage as the Gray Team settled in. "What were Crono and Lucca thinking?"

"This damn stone floor's cold!" Korcha complained.

"Quit yer gripin'," Kid said. "This is what the game's dealt us, so we'll have ta live with it- unless ya' want'a bail out on us."

"Do not be absurd," Harle said. "Ze game has barely begun! We cannot allow such a minor setback to get us down!"

Kid scowled. "Yer right, but we could'a' won if you and Pierre had stuck with us."

Frog croaked. "Speaking of which, where is Pierre?"

o-o-o-o

Pierre turned the corner. Another dead-end. "I can't believe they left me behind like this! They must be jealous of my great skills!" He sat down against the wall, and gave a forlorn sigh.

o-o-o-o

In the red room, Leena came out of the bathroom, wearing clean clothes. She tossed her dirty clothes in the hamper. "Whew, that feels much better... Serge! What do you think you're doing?"

He looked up at her from the chair, uncomprehendingly.

She put her hands on her hips. "Get off that chair this instant! You're getting slime on it!" He got off the chair hastily.

She pointed to the bathroom. "Go take a bath, Serge. I won't have you getting slime everywhere."

Sheepishly, he headed into the bathroom.

Meanwhile, the rest of Red Team was exploring the section of the Funhouse open to them. They first headed to the window-lined hall, where they could see into an enclosed yard. There was a picnic table, some lounge-chairs, and a pool. Much of the yard had grass growing in it.

Ayla exulted at the sight "Open space!" She ran towards it. Lucca tried to warn her, but her warning came too late, as Ayla ran into the glass.

Ayla rubbed her head. "What I hit?"

"It's glass," Lucca explained.

"I break it, get out!"

"Wait, Ayla, I don't think that's allowed!"

"But I want go outside!"

"Come on, let's look for a door."

They found one about halfway down the west hall, but it was locked.

Lucca sighed. "I guess this is one of those spots Bekkler said wouldn't be open to us at first."

Ayla crossed her arms and said petulantly, "Not fair let us see field and pond but not let us go there."

Lucca shrugged. "You're right, but I don't remember Bekkler saying anything about this game being fair. Come on, let's keep looking around."

Crono had walked farther down the west hall, and found a door on the south wall, as well as one at the end of the hall. Both were locked. They headed to the north hall.

Meanwhile, the Gray Team, except for Pierre, who had yet to make it out of the maze, had also finished unpacking, and was exploring the east hall. The door at the end of it was locked, but the door on the north wall of the hall opened into another stone room. This room was a bit smaller than the Gray Room, and had a relatively low ceiling. It was lit by torches, and in their light, they could see manacles and chains on the walls. To the north was a short hall, bordered by the barred walls and doors of six cells.

"What is this, a dungeon?" Marle asked.

"So it would appear," Frog observed.

"But what's a dungeon doing in a fun house?"

Korcha responded, "I'm thinkin' I'd rather not find out."

Growing impatient, Harle stepped out of the dungeon, and started looking around for Serge. When she spotted Crono, Lucca, Robo, and Ayla walking down the north hall, she guessed Serge must still be in the Red Room.

She headed there and tried to open the door, but it was locked. Frustrated, she knocked on the door. A moment later, it opened, and Leena poked her head out. "Oh, you. What do you want?"

"I am looking for monsieur Serge."

"Well, he's taking a bath, so you'll have to wait."

"I am sure he would not mind my company. Why don't you let me in?"

"Not in your dreams." Leena slammed the door shut.

"I was only trying to be friendly. Zere was no need to be rude," Harle said, though there was no one to hear it. Then she chuckled, and leisurely walked back to the others.

The others had gathered in the Dare room, and were discussing their explorations.

"Everything was locked in the north and west halls, but you can see the yard through the windows," Lucca reported.

Frog told of his team's discovery of the dungeon.

"A dungeon? We've got to see that. Come on!" Red team headed to the dungeon, while Gray team got a good look at the yard.

The Gray team then stopped back in the Dare room, where they were joined by Harle.

Korcha said, "Not much of a place, huh?"

Kid shrugged. "Like I said earlier, we'll just have to deal with what the game deals us."

"I wonder, though, what sorta rooms the others got."

Frog replied, "I am certain they wouldst agree to let us take a look, shouldst we ask."

Marle folded her arms and lifted her head haughtily. "Well I don't want to see."

Kid rolled her eyes. "Come on, Marle, don't be childish. For all we know, they gave us the better rooms."

Harle raised an eyebrow. "'Ow much do you wish to bet?"

o-o-o-o

Crono shuddered looking in the prison cells.

"This reminds me of the prison you were put in," Lucca commented. Crono nodded. After a quick look around, they headed back to the dare room.

"So," Lucca said, "now that we've got a look around, would you guys like to come to our place? It'll be a bit crowded with all of us there, but I'm sure we'll manage it somehow."

Marle didn't say anything. After an awkward pause, Kid responded, "That sounds great, but first we gotta see what happened to Pierre... Any of you blokes up to helpin' me look around the maze for him?"

Crono, Frog, and Ayla all immediately volunteered. But then Bekkler came down from the ceiling.

"That won't be necessary. I've already sent Vicks, Wedge, and Piette to retrieve him from the maze. Incidentally, once he has been brought in, the door to the maze will be locked- we don't want anyone getting lost in there, and my men have some alterations to make to it."

With that, he left them.

Kid shrugged. "Well, I guess that takes care of that. You were goin' to show us the `Red room'?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Right."

They headed to the red room, and headed in. Leena was quite concerned when the Gray team started coming in. "What are they doing here? We don't have the room for them!"

"I know," Lucca replied, "but I wanted my friends to see our place, and it would have been rude not to invite the others. Some of us will just have to step into the bedroom for now."

Leena sighed, and headed in there to make room for the new arrivals. Ayla, however stayed in the hall, saying it was too crowded in there for her.

Marle examined the room with growing disgust. Finally, she pulled Lucca and Crono out into the hall.

"How could you?" she demanded.

"What?" Lucca said, confused.

"Take the Red room, and leave me with that... that... Gray room!"

Lucca stared at her.

"I mean just because I rough it with the rest of the gang when we're on a mission, doesn't mean I like to! I'm a princess, and I'm used to certain standards!"

Lucca bowed her head, then said, after a pause, "I'm sorry, Marle. It completely slipped my mind. I was just thinking about what was best for my team. Sorry."

Marle's expression started to soften. She turned to Crono. "And what do you have to say for yourself?"

Crono rubbed the back of his head, and gave a nervous laugh.

Marle gave an exasperated sigh, then turned away to hide the smile she couldn't quite suppress. Regaining her composure, she turned back to them. "Well, I suppose I'll forgive you two this time. But don't make a habit of this!"

The three of them were just heading back to the red room, when the maze door opened, and Vicks and Wedge escorted Pierre in.

"There you are!" Marle said. "Thanks to you, we got stuck with the second rate rooms."

Pierre looked hurt, but he quickly recovered and put on a superior look Marle would have had difficulty topping. "Well, if all of you had followed my instructions, we would have won with no difficulty."

Marle whispered to Lucca, "If we had followed him, we **all** would have been lost in the maze."

To Pierre, however, she said, "Well, I guess we'll just all have to learn to work together better next time. Come on, I'll show you our place, and you can get washed up." She led him to the Gray Room.

The Gray team soon headed back to their rooms to eat lunch. Both teams were a bit concerned, however, to learn that all the food in their cupboards and refrigerators was junk food (cookies, chips, candy, pretzels, ice cream, ext.). Or, at least some of the players on each team were concerned...

"Wow! Ice cream! And look at all the flavors!" Marle exclaimed. "That's the one thing I always miss when we're in another time period." Harle and Korcha looked at her strangely.

Frog said quietly to her, "Thy highness, we are not supposed to discusseth that, if thee dost recall?"

She looked at him blankly. "Ice cream?"

"Nay, the fact that we have visited different times."

"Oh, that." She looked nervous for a moment, then laughed. "It was sure to come out sooner or later. So long as Porre doesn't find out exactly who we are, we'll be fine."

"What exactly are ya talkin' about?" Korcha asked.

"Well, it's pretty simple, really. My friends and I are time travelers. Lucca, Crono and I are from the year one-thousand, Frog is from six-hundred AD, Ayla's from sixty five million BC, and Robo is from the future."

Harle's eyes narrowed. "And how iz it zat you travel through time?"

"We have a time machine."

Kid put her hand on Marle's shoulder, and said quietly, "Be careful what you say to her. She's quite dangerous, and if she's anything like the version of her I met before, she plans on changing history."

"What?"

Harle asked, "A time machine, you say? Do you suppose I could see zis time machine?"

"Well, we don't have it with us at the moment- it wouldn't fit in the Funhouse," Marle said quickly.

"Of course. After the game, maybe?"

"Maybe," Marle hedged. "I'll have to discuss it with my friends, first, you understand..."

"Of course. It would be foolish to let just anyone see such a powerful device." Harle got a snack cake from the cupboard, then walked off, eating it.

After Marle had fixed herself some ice cream, she and Kid sat down in a corner to talk.

"So, Schala, what do you mean, she wants to change history?"

"Please, call me Kid. I haven't been called Schala in a long time. As for Harle, she's a descendant of the reptites from an alternate course of history where Lavos never killed them off, and she's trying to restore her people's course of history.

"Until now, she's been trying to get the Frozen Flame, a legendary object said to have the power to grant the wishes of whosoever obtains it. But what she doesn't realize is that the Frozen Flame was actually a link to `Time Devourer', a being created from my original body and a fragment of Lavos. What she should sense, but may not believe, is that the Flame and the Time Devourer have now been destroyed- Serge and I saw to that."

Later, most of the Gray team returned to the Red room, except Korcha, who couldn't stand how crowded it got with both teams in the Red room. Ayla soon joined him in the Gray room, complaining about the crowding. Korcha tried to strike up a conversation with her, but they had little in common besides their distaste for clothes and crowds. After a little while, they were joined by Crono and Serge, who had little taste for conversation, but had discovered a mutual interest in fighting. Despite Bekkler's protests that they would not be necessary, both of them had brought their weapons, and now sparred with each other.

Harle returned moments later, not bothering disguising the fact that she was following Serge around.

Wanting to keep in practice, Ayla and Korcha also decided to do some sparring. Not wanting to interrupt Serge and Crono, they decided to start by sparring with each other. Korcha took out his fishing pole, and Ayla got into a defensive position.

"Don't cha have a weapon?" Korcha asked.

"Ayla have two weapons: Ayla's fists."

"If cha say so." They fought, and Ayla quickly overcame Korcha.

When Crono and Serge finished their match, Korcha suggested they alternate partners. Crono took on Ayla, while Serge fought Korcha. Korcha was soundly beaten again.

Seeing that Korcha was getting frustrated, Serge told Korcha, "Don't worry, you have the potential to be just as strong as the rest of us. You just need practice."

Meanwhile, in the Red Room, Leena, Robo, and Frog had gotten into a conversation about the different rules of etiquette in different places and times, while Lucca, Marle, and Kid had moved off on their own so Kid could give them a condensed explanation of her new life and adventures.

"So..." Kid said. She closed her eyes, then after a moment straightened her shoulders, taking on a more regal bearing. Opening her eyes, she began to speak in a voice completely lacking in Kid's normal accent. "When last we saw each other, we were within the Ocean Palace, and Crono had just been killed by Lavos. In order to save you from sharing his fate, I used the power of the royal pendant to teleport you out of the Palace. Unfortunately, this used the last of my strength, preventing me from teleporting myself out of the Palace."

Kid explained how Schala had been sucked into a Gate and eventually wound up in the Darkness Beyond Time, where she encountered a fragment of Lavos. Both of them in a weakened state, and their powers already connected, the two had began to merge, creating the Time Devourer. However, before Schala had completely lost herself, she created a clone of herself, a baby girl which she sent into the future to the year 1004 AD.

Kid's accent returned as she told of growing up in Lucca's orphanage, then of Lynx and Harle's attack and Lucca's death. She told of her time as a thief in Guardia, and of her journey to El Nido in search of Lynx and the Frozen Flame. She then did her best to explain to Marle and Lucca her adventures with Serge – however, in order to keep the story from taking days to tell, she simplified things quite a bit and left out many details as well as most of the events she missed.

Kid told of learning of her past from the ghosts of Crono, Marle, and Lucca, and of venturing into the Darkness Beyond Time and using the Chrono Cross to separate Schala from the fragment of Lavos, thus destroying the Time Devourer and causing the two timelines to merge. Finally, she told of how Kid and Schala had merged into a single being, with the body of Kid but the memories and abilities of both.

"Since then, I've been wandering around, seein' what this new timeline's like and trying to help out where I can while I get my head on straight."

"Wow." Lucca commented.

Marle shook her head. "You've sure been through a lot."

Kid inclined her head. "Yeah, I guess so. Makin' my own way after Sis died was a challenge, and so was the fight over the Frozen Flame... And as for my time as part of the Time Devourer..." She shook her head. "I don't even like to think about it." She took a deep breath, then let it out. "Still, I made it in the end..."

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes, then Kid said in a more cheerful voice, "So, how have you girls been doing since the Ocean Palace?"

Perking up, Marle said, "Good. We managed to go back in time and save Crono, and we even managed to destroy Lavos."

Kid smiled. "I know. When I was growing up, Sis told all us orphans about your adventures traveling through time to save the world from Lavos and then to rescue Crono's mom,"

Marle and Lucca looked at each other for a moment. Then Marle turned back to Kid and said, "I guess that makes sense. But why were you asking us, then?"

Kid shrugged. "To be polite? I am curious where in your adventures you are, though."

Marle blinked. "Well, we just recently brought Crono's Mom and cat home. Since then we've been investigating El Nido in the years we can get to."

Kid looked thoughtful. "I see. So after most of your big adventures, but still a while before everybody went their separate ways..."

Lucca commented, "It's strange to think of people who weren't on the adventures with us knowing all about everything we did... and even stuff we haven't done yet."

Marle nodded. "I know what you mean. But you have to admit – our adventures would make exiting stories."

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Well, some of them, anyway."

Marle turned to Kid. "So, you know everything that is going to happen to us?"

"Maybe," Kid said. "The strange thing is, Sis never mentioned coming to the year 1020, or anything about the Funhouse."

Lucca put her hand to her chin and took on a thoughtful expression. "So, meta-temporally speaking, Chronos must have given Gaspar that letter for us after your 'Sis' was done with adventuring through time and settled down..."

Kid nodded. "That might explain it."

Marle looked back and forth at the two of them, confused. "Huh?"

Lucca said to Marle, "This timeline and everything Kid remembers is what would have happened if we hadn't gotten that letter telling us how to get to this time period."

"Oh." Marle said. She guessed Lucca was leaving a bit out of this simplified explanation, but decided it wasn't worth trying to get her to explain. Instead she turned to Kid. "So, if you know about all of our adventures except this one..." In a softer voice she continued, "You must know Janus became Magus..."

Kid nodded, her face expressionless. "Yeah."

Concerned, Marle asked, "What do you think about that?"

Kid's eyes lost focus as she said solemnly, "The Schala part of myself is happy he survived, but is also quite disappointed in Janus for what he did, what he allowed his subordinates to attempt to do, and how he allowed himself to be consumed by anger and hatred." She looked at Marle and Lucca again and smirked as she continued, "Th' Kid part o' me grew up idolizin' Magus fer bein' a cool and mysterious badass, and for devotin' himself ta finding his big Sis; knowin' it's me he's lookin' for just makes it better." Her smirk turned to a mild smile as she added, "The fact that he helped you guys fight Lavos improves my Schala side's opinion of him, an' don't hurt my Kid side's opinion of him either."

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "It sounds like having two sets of memories gets a bit confusing at times."

Kid shrugged. "I manage."

Marle giggled. "It sounded to me like as Kid you used to have a crush on Magus! That must have been pretty awkward when you found out he was your brother."

Kid blushed. "I did not have a crush on him! I just looked up ta him and thought he was cool."

"Right, sure," Marle teased.

Regaining her composure a bit, Kid said, "I gotta admit, though, reconciling my memories of Janus as a child with th' stories Sis told me 'bout Magus was one of the most confusing parts of rememberin' my life as Schala. I mean, in one life he was my younger brother who looked up to me and who I did my best to guide; in th' other he's a warlord I've heard 'bout all my life, an' I'm the one looking up to him." She frowned. "I wonder what's gonna happen when we finally meet up again? What will he think ta find his big sis younger than him? And will we even get along after all the changes we've been through?"

Marle and Lucca both moved closer to her and put an arm around her comfortingly. Marle said, "Don't worry, I'm sure it'll all work out."

"I hope so..." Kid sighed. Then a thought occurred to her, and she smirked weakly. "I bet when we do meet up again he's going to be pissed I chose to play a silly game like this instead of finding him."

Lucca said, "What were you supposed to do, wander around the world looking for him? We have no idea where he went - how would you have found him? He's supposed to meet us back here when the game is over, you can meet up with him then."

In a sympathetic tone, Marle said, "If you really want to look for him, it's not too late to quit the game. Though I'd miss having you here with us."

Kid thought for minute or two then shook her head. "Lucca's right. How would I find him? ...I can wait a little bit longer to see him..." She sighed again, still not happy with the situation.

o-o-o

That night, after the teams had returned to their rooms, the Red Team gathered in the bedroom to discuss sleeping arrangements. Lucca had changed into pajamas, and Leena into her nightgown. Serge and Crono, who slept in their clothes, had put on clean clothes at the girls' insistence, and had removed their boots.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "It all comes down to this simple fact: we have six people, and only three beds. Obviously, we'll either need to double up, or some of us will have to go without a bed."

Robo interjected, "I do not require a bed."

Lucca nodded. "That brings us down to five people and three beds."

Leena spoke up. "I'd like a bed, but I don't think I'd be comfortable sleeping with anyone- it just wouldn't look right."

Lucca nodded again. "I wouldn't mind sharing a bed. What about the rest of you?"

Crono shrugged, and Serge spread his hands, and Ayla said, "Ayla no mind."

Leena scowled. "Serge isn't sleeping with anyone, either."

Lucca stared at her for a moment, then said, "O-kay... Come to think of it, Marle would probably kill me if I slept in the same bed as Crono... so I guess, Leena gets one bed, Ayla and I will share a bed, and then either Crono or Serge can take the third bed. The remaining person can take the couch, if they want."

Crono indicated he'd take the couch. He headed out to the main Red Room, while Serge took bed near the far wall.

"I want the bed next to Serge's," Leena informed Lucca and Ayla.

"Fine." Lucca agreed. She took off her glasses and put them on one of the end tables. She then climbed into the bed near the door. Ayla started to climb in as well, but Lucca stopped her. "Take off your boots first."

"Why?"

"We don't want to get the bed dirty."

Ayla stared at her. "In Ioka, when bed get too dirty, Ayla rinse in stream."

"I'm sure they'll wash the sheets to these beds too, but we don't know how often that will be. I don't want to have to deal with a dirty bed for days or weeks, and I don't want to have to try to wash the sheets in the sink or tub, so take off your boots."

"Okay," Ayla said without much enthusiasm.

"Come to think of it, you haven't changed those furs you're wearing, have you?"

"Change? What Lucca mean change?"

Lucca stared at her. "You know, change from one set of clothes to another?"

Ayla looked confused. "These only clothes Ayla have."

"What? You didn't bring a change of clothes?"

"Why Ayla need more clothes?"

"To change into when the ones you're wearing are dirty."

"When Ayla's clothes dirty, Ayla go for swim, or stand in rain."

Lucca put her hand to her head. "At least tell me they're relatively clean right now."

Ayla pulled her scarf to her neck and sniffed, then made a disgusted face Lucca couldn't see with her glasses off. Ayla sniffed the fur cuff on her right hand, and made another disgusted face. "Uh..."

Lucca moaned and shook her head. She got out of bed, put on her glasses, and grabbed Ayla by the arm. "Come on, I'm not sleeping in the same bed as you until you've taken a bath."

As Lucca dragged Ayla out of the bedroom, Leena could hear Ayla ask, "What `bath'?"

o-o-o-o

In the Gray Room, sleeping arrangements were much simpler; the only argument was over who got the upper bunks and who got the lower ones.

Marle had taken off her bracelets, hair-band, sandals, and `armored belt', but had only changed the rest of her clothes. She sat down on the lower bunk near the door. "I'll take this bed, if no one minds."

Kid shrugged. "Works for me." She was wearing a white nightgown, and had taken the ribbons from her hair and washed the white streaks off her cheeks.

Marle looked up at her. "Wow, you really are Schala! You look a lot more like you used to like this."

"Yeah. Now all I need is blue hair... Say, why don't you have any nightclothes on? I wouldn't have expected a princess to sleep in her clothes."

Marle blushed. "Well... actually, my father and the castle staff always used to overdress me. I mean, these are perfectly good clothes, but... they started out as underclothes..."

Pierre came in, wearing pink and red clothes Marle and Kid assumed must be his nightclothes. However, except for having no boots or hat, he seemed to be wearing just as much clothing as ever.

"Speaking of overdressed..."

Pierre took the far lower bunk, and Korcha (who wore only his loincloth to bed) took the middle top bunk.

Kid at first intended on taking the middle bottom bunk, but Frog had difficulty climbing the ladder to the top near bunk, so they switched. Frog wore only his breaches to bed, and apparently took these off once he was under the blankets.

As for Harle, she stayed up late, enjoying the peace and quiet of the empty Gray Room. She extinguished the torches, and stared out the windows at the stars and moons.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

_**Day Two**_

The next morning, when Leena woke up, she was not surprised to see that Serge was still sound asleep. When she turned to the other bed, however, she was shocked. There was no sign of Lucca, and Ayla lay sprawled on the bed, snoring loudly, the sheets tangled around in a way that left much of her uncovered- completely uncovered, as for some reason she was not wearing her normal furs.

Leena got out of bed and walked over to Ayla. Not wanting Serge to see Ayla like this, Leena tried to untangle Ayla. Suddenly, Ayla shot up and grabbed Leena, pinning her to the bed. "What Leena do?"

Her heart in her throat, Leena stammered, "I- I was just trying to-to untangle the blankets- to c-cover y-you."

Ayla considered that for a moment, then let her go. As she untangled herself from the blankets, Ayla said, "Ayla thank Leena for thought, but not good sneak up on Ayla when Ayla sleep- Ayla might think it reptites."

Leena nodded weakly. "I- I'll keep that in mind."

Ayla looked around. "Where Lucca?"

"I don't know. Maybe she's in the other room?"

Ayla nodded. "Ayla go see."

"Don't you think you should put some clothes on first? I mean, what if Crono's awake?"

Ayla looked at Leena, uncomprehendingly. "What if Crono awake?"

"He'll see you naked, that's what."

"Oh." Ayla shrugged. "Ayla thought there was problem."

Now Leena was starting to get exasperated. "That is the problem. Don't you care if a guy sees you naked?"

Ayla put her hand to her chin. Obviously, this required a lot of thought for her. "Keno be jealous if Keno know other man see Ayla naked... but Keno not Ayla's mate yet, so okay if get jealous. Make Keno want Ayla more."

She looked up. "No, Ayla not care if other man see Ayla."

Leena put her hand to her forehead. _Why me?_

Serge moaned and rolled over in his sleep, and Leena decided she would have to act quickly. "Look, why don't you just put on your clothes anyway?"

Ayla shrugged. "Not see why matters, but if Leena say so, Ayla will." She went over to Robo, whose head was hanging as if he were asleep. However, his arms were extended, and in his hands he held Ayla's top and loincloth. Her cuffs and scarf were draped over him.

Ayla grabbed the cuffs and scarf and pulled them on. Then she banged on his chest and said, "Wake up!"

Robo lifted his head up and his eyes lit up. "Good morning mistress Ayla. Good morning, mistress Leena."

Ayla told him, "Ayla put rest of clothes on now."

"Understood." He handed her the furs. "I do not believe they are quite dry yet, however."

As Ayla pulled the top down over her head, she answered, "No matter. Clothes dry on Ayla." Putting on her loincloth, she commented, "Lucca strange. First, want Ayla to wash clothes before bed, then not want Ayla to wear wet clothes in bed!"

Ayla pulled on her boots, then headed into the other room. Leena followed. They found Lucca sleeping in the big chair. Crono was still sound asleep on the couch.

Ayla scratched her head. "Why Lucca sleep in chair? Ayla thought Lucca want sleep in bed."

Leena shrugged. "Who knows? We'll have to ask her when she wakes up."

Ayla nodded. She went over to the cupboard and pulled out some snacks. Leena went to the refrigerator and got something to drink.

Ayla gulped down most of what she'd taken, then headed to the door. "Ayla go look at field, see how high sun."

A little while later, Lucca woke up. Leena offered her something to drink, and asked what she was doing sleeping in the chair.

"I tried to sleep with Ayla, but she kept waking me up with her tossing and turning. I never knew someone could be so active in their sleep!"

"That's terrible," Leena said. "I wonder if she'd be willing to let you have the bed to yourself tonight?"

"I hate to kick her out. But we have to figure out something- I don't think I could manage going through another night like that."

o-o-o-o

In the Gray room, Marle got up to find Kid and Frog both up already. Kid was getting something to eat, while Frog was taking a shower. Frog, Kid, and Marle were dressed by the time Korcha got up, but it actually wasn't all that late yet. It was an hour or so more, however, before Pierre got up, and even then, Harle (who had slept in her clothes, shoes and all) remained zonked out.

"I wonder how late she stayed up?" Marle commented.

Later, Leena took Ayla aside and told her about how Ayla's tossing and turning had woken Lucca.

"Ayla sorry Lucca not get good sleep. Leena no worry. Ayla make sure no happen again."

Much of the morning was spent in a similar manner to the previous afternoon. Marle, Lucca, Kid, and Leena talked in the red room. Crono and Serge sparred in the Gray room, sometimes joined by Ayla, Frog, and Korcha. Robo spent his time pondering philosophical matters and running errands for the girls. Pierre spent an hour or so on personal hygiene, then tried to join in the sparring sessions. Unfortunately, he refused to admit the fact that he was out of his league with Serge, Crono, and Ayla.

When the girls' conversation turned to the adventures they'd had, Leena felt left out, and headed to the Gray room to check up on Serge. She was amazed to see him fighting Crono- she knew Serge had trained under Radius, but had no idea he was this good. A little while later, Harle came out of the bedroom, and joined Leena in watching Ayla and the men fight- much to Leena's annoyance.

About half an hour later, Vicks, Wedge, and Piette showed up and told them all to head to the Dare Room.

When all of the players had assembled in the Dare Room, Bekkler floated down with his usual cackle. "Welcome. It's Bonus Dare time! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the rules, let me explain. This game is divided into ten rounds, plus the preliminary round. Each round is three days long. On the first day, the teams compete with each other in a challenge, as you did yesterday. On the second day, you gather here to play the Bonus Dare game, and on the third you perform a challenge as individuals, to determine who may stay in the house and who is in danger of leaving.

"As I said, today is the Bonus Dare. In this game, you perform dares for points. Some of these points will go to you as individuals, while others will be go to the team `pot'. Each point is worth one hundred GP; however, you can only collect that money under certain circumstances. Specifically, your personal points will only be converted into GP if you make it to the end of the Funhouse. As for the team pots, the money in the pot of the team that wins the Funhouse shall be divided among the original six members of that team.

"Now, here's how the Bonus Dare game works. Usually, one player from each team will come up to the wheel here and spin it, to determine the category of dares that player's team must perform. Then, you would all bet one to six points on whether you thought you would be able to perform a dare from that category. However, as this is the preliminary round, there is only one category: Easy Dares. And since none of you have any points to bet yet, you shall gain six points if you perform the dare, but otherwise your points will remain at zero." As he spoke, the board on the wall to the left bearing all their names changed. Under each of their names appeared, "0 + 6?"

Bekkler continued, "I shall still need a representative from the Red Team, because it is also the job of the representative of the round's winning team to spin the wheel to determine the exact dare the team shall be asked to perform. If every member of the team performs this dare, the team itself will get several points- usually twelve, but this time only six- which will be deposited into the team `pot'.

"After the round's winning team is given its dare, each member of the other team will spin the wheel to determine their own dare. Each member of that team shall get different dares, and there is no prize for the team if they all happen to perform their dares.

"One last thing. You may have noticed on the wheel the images of Kings, Queens, Jacks, and Jokers. Each of these has a special function. If you land on one of the Jacks, you receive no dare- and no points- this round. If you land on one of the Queens, during the category spin, you shall receive two dares this round, each from a different category, and you may bet on them separately. If you spin a Queen as a dare, you shall get two dares from the pre-chosen category, and must perform both of them to receive your points. The King is the same as the Queen, except it gives you three dares. And if you spin one of the Jokers, you are given a Special Dare. The Special Dares are particularly hard, and as a result are worth twelve points- but if you fail or refuse a Special Dare once you have any points, you shall loose up to twelve points.

"Any questions?"

Harle raised her hand.

"I mean about the game."

Harle lowered her hand.

"Very well then, let's begin. Red team, would you like to choose a representative?"

They discussed the matter, and Crono was picked. He stepped forward, and at Bekkler's instruction, spun the wheel.

It spun round and round, and finally landed on the number ten. A piece of chalk lifted off the chalkboard's rim and wrote on the board, "Red Team: Easy Dare # 10: "Strike a pose and shout `I'm number one!'"

Bekkler cracked his knuckles. "Well, team, there you go! I dare each member of Red team to strike a pose and shout out, `I'm number one!' Will you accept the challenge?"

They all looked at each other. Lucca adjusted her glasses. "That's it? That's easy!"

Leena commented, "A little embarrassing, though..."

"Could be a whole lot worse. Let's all do it."

Bekkler looked at each of them. "So, I take it you all accept?"

They all nodded or said "Yes."

Bekkler nodded. "You can perform your dare in a moment. But first, let's see what the Gray team gets for dares." He turned to the Gray team. "We'll just follow the order I assigned you to the team in, for now. So, Frog, if you'd come here?"

Frog spun the wheel, and got a five. The chalk wrote, "A or B?"

"Ah, yes, most dare numbers have multiple dare possibilities. Please spin that small disk to your right to determine which option it is. White will be `A', and red will be `B'"

The disk Bekkler referred to was set on the rim of the platform the Dare Wheel was on. It was a small disk, about six inches across, and it was divided into four quarters. Two were colored red, and two were colored white. They were also all numbered.

Frog spun it, and got `B'. The chalk wrote, "Easy Dare #5B: Color finger and toenails chosen color."

Frog croaked. "But I have no nails!"

Bekkler looked surprised. "You don't?"

"Nay. Alas, frogs do not possess such things."

"Could you show me?"

Frog removed his right glove, and Bekkler came closer to get a good look. "Well, I'll be. You really don't have any nails. Well, according to the rules, any dare based on false assumptions is invalid. Under such circumstances, we first go to any other dares of the same number..." A list appeared in Bekkler's hand, and he checked it... "I was afraid of this. Easy dare five A is coloring your hair, but that would be invalid, too. I guess you'll just have to spin again."

An eraser erased the "five A or B" as Frog spun again. This time he got a six- "Kiss player of choice."

Bekkler read this. "So, Frog, do you dare to kiss one of the other players? Incidentally, if your chosen player refuses, you get no points, so choose carefully."

Frog thought about that. "I suppose, 'tis acceptable."

"Very well, then. I'll give you a little while to think about that." Bekkler turned his head. "Marle, you're next."

Marle spun the wheel and got a ten. Bekkler looked surprised. "Another ten? Ah well, coincidences happen, I suppose. Marle, I dare you to strike a pose and shout that you're `number one'. Do you accept?"

Marle shrugged. "I guess..."

"Very good. We'll get back to you. Korcha? Your turn. "

Korcha got a Queen. Bekkler commented, "Looks like you'll need to perform two dares to get your six points."

"Oh, great."

"If you'd spin two more times?"

The second time, he got another queen.

Bekkler asked, "Another Queen? I wonder what the chances of that were? Oh, well, just ignore it. You can only get one special card at a time."

Korcha then got a four. The chalk told him, "Tape some fingers or toes together (random, 24 hours)."

Korcha didn't know what to think of that.

Bekkler said, "Random, eh?" He pulled a deck of cards out of nowhere, shuffled them, then pulled several cards free and offered them to Korcha. "Pick a card, any card."

Korcha pulled a card out of Bekkler's hand. It said, "Tape Index and middle fingers together on right hand using duct tape."

Bekkler explained, "So, for your first dare, we'd like you to tape those fingers together, and leave the tape on for twenty-four hours."

Korcha still didn't know what to think about that. Bekkler suggested he make his `second' spin. This time he got a ten.

"My, that's popular today," Bekkler commented. "So, for six points- potentially six hundred GP-, I dare you to tape your right index and middle fingers together, strike a pose, and shout you're number one. Do you dare?"

Korcha rolled his eyes. "For that much money, yeah, I guess, but this is really silly, you know."

"Mmm-hmm." Bekkler agreed happily. "Kid, it's your turn."

"This should be interesting," she commented.

She got a six, like Frog.

"So, Kid, do you dare to kiss someone?"

"Hell, yeah. There ain't no bloody problem with that. Does it matter how?"

"No, just so long as you can call it a kiss."

Kid nodded thoughtfully.

Bekkler turned to Pierre. "Pierre?"

"What?" asked Pierre, who had been only half-listening. "Are you saying Kid is going to kiss moi?"

"No, I'm saying it's your turn to spin the wheel."

"Oh. Yes, of course." Pierre went to the wheel, and spun the all-popular ten.

Korcha wondered, "Another ten? What's going on here?"

Serge added, "That wheel isn't rigged, is it?"

Bekkler held up his hands and laughed nervously. "Of course not! I wouldn't do that! If you don't believe me, let me remind you that the dragoons looked this entire place over. Besides, if I were going to fix the wheel, don't you think I'd have chosen something a bit more interesting to have it keep landing on? It's all coincidental, I assure you." He put one hand to his chin. "Maybe I should have it oiled... Anyway, Pierre, do you dare to strike a pose and shout that you're number one?"

"Well, normally I try to be modest, but I suppose it would not 'urt to make an exception."

Finally, Harle spun a nine: "Make a painting or drawing of another player."

"At last, a chance to show off my artistic talent!"

Bekkler told them, "Now, it's time for you to perform your dares. Wedge, if you'd escort Korcha to the Supply room and help him duct tape his fingers? The rest of you can begin your dares as soon as they get back."

Wedge took Korcha to the end of the west hall, and unlocked the door. Inside was a storage room filled with costumes and boxes. Waiting there was a woman in a red blouse. "Hello, Wedge. What do you need?"

"Some duct tape."

The woman led them to one box and pulled out a roll. "What do want with it?" She asked.

Wedge answered, "He has to tape some fingers together. Which ones was it?"

Korcha said with some embarrassment, "My right index and middle fingers."

The woman nodded, and pulled some tape loose from the roll. "Hold them out, and I'll tape them for you."

"I thought I was supposed ta do it my self."

Wedge shook his head. "Nah, doesn't matter."

Korcha shrugged. "Okay then." He held out his two fingers, and the lady wrapped the tape around them, leaving only the tips exposed.

She cut the end of the tape and asked, "You can't pull them apart now, can you?"

"No."

"Well, then, there you go." She put the tape back. "Good luck!"

Korcha turned to the door and rolled his eyes. Wedge escorted him back to the Dare room.

Bekkler said, "Alright, now for the rest of your dares. Crono, let's see you strike a pose and shout that you're number one."

Crono pumped his fist, and said loudly, "I'm number one!"

Bekkler commented, "Not quite a shout, but I suppose that's close enough." On the scoreboard, the numbers under his name changed to "6".

Bekkler turned to Lucca. "Your turn, Lucca."

Lucca adjusted her glasses, then stuck her fist up over her head, index finger raised, and shouted, "I'm number one!" Her score changed to six.

"Robo?"

Robo asked, "Before I begin, I must ask, is it necessary to repeat the quote exactly?"

"Er, yes, it is."

Robo nodded. "Very well. I shall do so, then." He held up one fist, and announced in a quite loud, but perfectly calm voice, "I'm number one."

His score rose, and Bekkler asked, "Ayla?"

"What?"

"It's time for you to perform your dare."

"Oh. Okay." She raised her fist high in the air, and shouted joyfully "Ayla number one!"

Several of them covered their ears at the volume of her voice.

Wincing in pain, Bekkler announced, "Plenty of volume, but I'm afraid I'll have to disqualify you for not saying it properly."

"Huh?"

"You were supposed to say, quote, `**I'm** number one,' end quote. In other words, you were supposed to say the word `I'm'. Saying your name instead doesn't count. Sorry, Red team, it looks like your pot will remain empty for now."

Lucca scowled at Ayla. "Weren't you paying attention? Bekkler just told Robo we had to say it exactly!"

"Oh, that what Floating Head say? Ayla not understand."

Lucca sighed.

Bekkler turned to Serge. "Well, Serge, you can still win six points for yourself if you successfully perform this dare."

Serge nodded. "I'm number one!" Serge said, his hands on his hips. His points changed to six.

Finally, Bekkler said, "Leena?"

Leena put her right hand on her chest and said, with a trace of embarrassment in her voice, "I'm number one."

Bekkler shook his head. "Sorry, you were supposed to shout it, and there's no way I can count that as a shout. Like Ayla, your points will stay at zero."

"What?" Leena shook her head, and let out a sigh.

Bekkler turned to the Gray team. "So, Frog. Have you decided whom you'd like to kiss?"

"There can be only one." He walked over to Marle and knelt down before her. "My lady, wouldst thou accept a kiss from one of such lowly form as I?"

"Of course I would! And don't say such things about yourself. You're the most heroic man I know, and I think you're cute."

Frog blushed. "Thou dost me too much honor, my lady."

Marle began to kneel down so he could reach her face, but he stopped her. "Nay, my lady. There is no need for thou to dirty thine garments. Though you have given thine permission to kiss thee, I am not worthy to touch thine face."

He shot out his tongue and it attached itself to her right hand. He then pulled the tongue in, pulling her hand to his face, and kissed her hand. He then backed away, bowing, and turned with a flourish to head back to where he had been standing earlier. His points rose to six.

Marle held up her right hand and looked at it. "I would have been willing to let him kiss me on the lips, if he'd wanted to, but I'm glad he didn't. That tongue of his is slimy!"

Bekkler interrupted her musings. "Marle? Are you ready to perform your dare?"

"Huh? What? Oh, yeah, right."

"Like the Red team, you need to strike a pose and shout out `I'm number one!'"

Marle nodded. She took a deep breath, then jumped into the air, arms above her head and knees bent. In mid-air, she shouted "I'm number one!" at the top of her lungs (which wasn't quite as loud as Ayla or Robo, but still quite loud).

"I'd say that's a success." Her points rose.

Leena turned to Lucca. "How did she strike a pose in mid air?"

Lucca spread her hands and shook her head.

Bekkler turned to Korcha. "So, are you number one, too?"

"If ya say so." Like Serge, he put his hands on his hips, then said loudly, "I'm number one."

Bekkler joked, "I'm sensing a lack of enthusiasm here..." Nonetheless, his points rose. "Anyway, Kid? Have you decided who you want to kiss?"

"Yeah."

"Go ahead, then."

"Well, since it doesn't have to be lip-to-lip, I think I'd like to give Lucca a kiss."

Lucca was taken aback by this. "Me?"

"Yeah, to thank you for all your future self did for me, Sis."

Bekkler asked, "Will you let her, Lucca?"

"Er, well... sure."

Kid walked over to Lucca and kissed her on the cheek.

Marle gave a smile. "Aww, how sweet!"

"Shut up, Marle," Lucca and Kid told her.

Kid's points rose.

Bekkler turned to Pierre. "Alright, now it's your turn to be number one."

He pulled out his sword and held it up in a noble pose. "I'm number one!"

"No, I'm number one!" Lucca joked.

Marle joined in, saying, "You're both wrong. I'm number one, remember?"

Bekkler cleared his throat. "Harle, have you decided who you wish to paint?"

"Why, Serge, of course."

"Heh, heh, of course. If you follow Wedge, he'll show you to the supply room, and you can get your canvas and paints. If he agrees, you can have Serge pose for you, or you can just paint from memory. It's up to both of you."

Harle turned to Serge and smiled. "You will pose for moi, won't you?" She batted her eyes seductively.

"Um, er... I guess."

Leena scowled at him.

Bekkler began rising back up towards the ceiling. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow for the preliminary individual challenge. As I said earlier, normally, this would determine who is safe from eviction, but none of you need worry about leaving this round. Instead, this challenge will be a chance for one of you to win an individual prize. I'll see you then.

"Until then, enjoy yourself." Bekkler floated away.

* * *

_What shall the individual challenge be, and what will they be playing for? Find out next time!_


	4. Episode Three

Crono Crossover: The Funhouse

Episode Three  
Preliminary Round Part Two

Previously: Crono, Serge, and their friends grew accustomed to life in the Funhouse. Then Norstein Bekkler called them all to the Dare room to spin the Dare Wheel for their Preliminary Round Bonus Dares. Several of the players had to proclaim themselves "Number One", while Frog and Kid each had to give someone a kiss. Korcha had two fingers taped together, and Harle was asked to paint a picture of someone. She chose Serge, much to Leena's displeasure. Now, all have performed their dares (or failed at them) except Harle. But the players have only had a small taste of the insanity called the Funhouse. What more awaits them?

* * *

Character Scoreboard:

Red Team:

_**Crono:  
**_Points: 6

_**Lucca:  
**_Points: 6

_**Robo:  
**_Points: 6

_**Ayla:  
**_Points: 0

_**Serge:  
**_Points: 6

_**Leena:  
**_Points: 0

.

Gray Team:

_**Frog:  
**_Points: 6

_**Marle:  
**_Points: 6

_**Korcha:  
**_Conditions: duct tape right index and middle fingers (24 hours).  
Points: 6

_**Kid:  
**_Points: 6

_**Pierre:  
**_Points: 6

_**Harle:  
**_Points: 0 + 6 (?)

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Since he figured Harle would want to paint her picture of him soon, Serge doubted he'd have time to do any sparring with Crono. Instead, after grabbing a bite to eat, he stood by listening in the red room, as Leena vented to Lucca and Marle about how shameless Harle was.

Meanwhile, in the Grey Room, Frog and Pierre dueled with one another, while Crono and Ayla watched.

Ayla commented, "Frog and Pierre fight good with shiny stick. Good weapon- cut well, do much hurt. But Frog and Pierre no practice fighting with bare hands. What happen if need to fight, have no weapon? Will be defeated easily."

Crono thought about this. Then he looked over at her thoughtfully.

Harle decided she wanted to paint Serge in front of the yard. She set up her easel there, as well as a chair each for her and Serge.

She then went and got Serge. Leena followed them.

Harle noted, "In many of ze great paintings, ze subjects are au naturale. What do you say to zis being a nude portrait?"

Leena said forcefully, "Out of the question!"

"I was not asking you."

"I think I'd prefer to keep my clothes on," Serge told Harle.

"Oh, well. It was just a thought."

Harle had him sit, and pose. Then she sat and began painting.

"Serge, I am not painting your face right now, so it is okay to talk. I was t'inking, once we are out of ze Funhouse, what say you come with me to find ze Frozen Flame? According to legend it can grant any wish one may have."

"Harle, the Flame has been destroyed."

"You just say that because Kid said so. But she is probably lying. She doesn't want any competition when she searches for it."

"No, Harle. It really is destroyed. I know- I lead the team that did it."

Harle dropped her brush. "What? You must be joking. You destroyed ze Flame?"

"That's right, I destroyed it."

Leena pointed out, "Serge really isn't the type to kid around, you know."

"Zis is preposterous. Why would you wish to do such a t'ing as destroy ze Frozen Flame?"

"I had to. It wasn't just some object you could wish on. It was a living creature, a monster, intent on destroying the world. We had to stop it."

Harle scowled at him. "I see."

Serge didn't know what to make of her reaction.

Harle picked up her brush and continued painting, but an uncomfortable silence prevailed. Secretly, Leena was pleased. The less these two got along, the better, from her point of view.

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, Robo found Kid in the Grey Bedroom, sitting on her bed and looking at her pendant.

"Mistress Kid, am I interrupting you?"

"What? No, come in, Robo. What brings you in here?"

"I was looking for you. There is something I wish to discuss."

"Oh?"

"Yes."

"Well, shoot."

Robo paused. Then he said, "Earlier when you, Lucca and Marle were discussing your adventures, you mentioned that when your Schala-self was separated from the Time Devourer and reunited with your Kid-self, you gained great insight into the nature of the world."

"That's right. In that instant, I had a significant portion of the power and knowledge of Lavos, without his evil influence. So I was able to sense things, things few in the course of history or the future have realized."

"You mentioned that one thing you learned was that the planet was like an organism's egg cell, and that when an individual is able to fertilize this cell, a new type of being shall be born; an extremely powerful entity."

"That's right. Any of the countless life forms on this planet could do it. I assume it will be human, or perhaps demi-human, 'cause it needs to be intelligent."

"There are many other species which exhibit the signs of intelligence, you realize."

"Yeah, well, anyway, when one individual of an advanced enough species evolves to a high enough plane of consciousness, it will merge with the planet, much as I was merged with the Frozen Flame, to form a new entity. However, unlike the Time Devourer, this entity will be as good or bad as the person who merges with it."

"And this entity will have nearly unlimited power and knowledge?"

"That's my understanding of it."

"Interesting. Are you certain this hasn't happened yet?"

"What do you mean?"

"Some time ago, I took a few centuries to help revive the forest on the southern continent. During this time, I turned my mind to various philosophical matters. I theorized that some powerful entity with the best interests of the planet in mind was responsible for the time gates which allowed us to battle and finally defeat Lavos."

Kid rubbed her chin. "Hnnh. That's an interesting thought. I never could understand why Lavos banished Janus and the Gurus to other time periods instead of just killing them. If some other force were responsible, that would explain a lot.

"...The thing of it is, though, in my vision, I got the impression the fertilization hadn't happened yet. Could the egg itself have the power to protect itself?"

Robo speculated, "Perhaps the entity is able to reach back in time to periods prior to it's own creation?"

Kid looked doubtful. "But the time-gates opened before you'd even defeated Lavos. I can't believe the entity could change history when the history it existed in wasn't even created yet."

"You are assuming the entity did not exist in the original history."

"Well, how could it have? Lavos ruled that world."

"Lavos' power was not invincible- we know that. It is possible that at some point in the future, one of the remaining life forms was able to merge with the planet, despite all that Lavos and the Mother Brain did to destroy all earthly life."

"I suppose that might be possible. In fact, that raises an interesting point. I always found it suspicious that the Mother Brain began malfunctioning around the same time as the Day of Lavos. Maybe Lavos corrupted the Mother Brain so it would exterminate whatever life escaped his rain of destruction. If Lavos knew about the planetary entity, he would have done whatever he could to prevent it from awakening."

Robo's voice came out a little bit louder and faster, indicating the robotic equivalent of excitement. "This would also explain the fact that the time gates disappeared after Lavos's death. With the disappearance of the original history, the original entity would have also ceased to exist. It is only logical therefore, for the gates it created to close."

The two continued discussing the matter in greater detail.

o-o-o-o

Serge returned to the Red room to check up on things, then headed to the Gray Room to do some exercises. He was astonished to see Ayla instructing Crono in unarmed combat.

Much to Leena's relief, Harle didn't bother following Serge. After putting the painting in the Dare room to dry, she headed to the Gray Room to get something to eat, then headed back out again. She pointedly avoided looking at Serge.

o-o-o-o

In the red room, Lucca and Marle got bored. They headed over to the Gray room to see what everybody was up to.

Upon seeing the sparring session, Lucca commented. "Men. All they ever think about is fighting."

"And cave-women," Marle added.

"They only think about fighting and cave-women?"

Marle laughed. "That's not what I meant- though that could be true too. What I meant is fighting seems to be all Ayla thinks about, also."

Korcha, who was taking a break, heard, and asked, "Well, what else is there ta do in this joint?"

Marle folded her arms. "You've got a point there. This place can get pretty boring."

Looking for anything to discuss, Lucca asked, "So what's it like having that tape on your fingers?"

"Weird. You forget about it after a while, though."

Lucca and Marle went over to see if Leena had anything to talk about. Leena relayed the drama out in the hall when Harle was painting.

Soon, Serge left the room, a determined look on his face. All three girls watched him go. Leena got up to follow him, but Lucca stopped her. "I think this is something he has to do alone."

"But, I'm sure he's going to look for Harle."

"Probably. But if he's as loyal to you as you think, you have nothing to fear. And if not..." She adjusted her glasses. "Well, you could only push him further away."

Leena sighed, looking disconsolately at the door.

Serge stared at the painting Harle had made. It was quite strange- parts of it were incredibly detailed and accurate, while other parts were just impressionistic blobs of paint of the appropriate color. It was obvious she had rushed to finish it. Strangely, the face was almost as detailed as the other detailed sections, but his expression was cold, unlike the face he had made when posing.

He continued his search for her.

Serge found Harle in the dungeon area. She was sitting against the wall. She glanced up as he entered, then turned away.

"Are you all right, Harle?"

"What?" She got up and gave him a haughty look. "Of course I am all right. What could possibly be wrong with moi?"

"Well, you seemed pretty upset when I told you I'd destroyed the Flame."

"Upset? Why would zat upset moi?"

"Look Harle, I know you wanted the Flame for yourself. You want to change this world, right? Bring about a world you consider better, even if it means the world as we know it will be destroyed. I understand where you're coming from. Frankly, I've seen a lot of things that make me wonder if this world deserves to exist. But none of us have the right to make that decision. As messed up as this world is, I still couldn't stand by and let someone destroy it- not Lynx, not the Flame, and not even you."

"I should have known you would side with your kind in zis matter."

"It's not like that. I just couldn't let a world be destroyed, even one as flawed as this one."

"So you say. And yet, by destroying ze Flame, you may well have doomed **my** world. Ze Flame was ze best hope to restore ze world of my ancestors, ze world zat Lavos destroyed when he landed on ze Earth."

"I'm sorry Harle... I… don't know what to say."

"Zere is nothing to be said. You made your choice." She turned away from him. "I waz foolish to even think an ape and one such as moi could ever..."

Serge couldn't stand seeing Harle like this. "Harle..."

"Go. Just go! I wish to be left alone."

Serge sighed and left.

o-o-o-o

The day wore on, and finally they all headed for their own rooms to prepare for bed.

Lucca was much relieved when Ayla offered to take the chair, and let Lucca have the bed to herself. Unlike Lucca, who had sat in the chair, Ayla curled up in it like a cat.

Meanwhile, Frog, Marle, and Pierre were concerned that Harle had not yet even returned to the Gray room.

Kid was already in bed and pulled the sheet up. "Aw, don't worry about her. She's one tough cookie."

It was about an hour later that Piette escorted Harle into the Gray room.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I have my orders. All contestants are to return to their quarters by eleven o'clock at night."

"Oui, Oui. It is fine," she said without any enthusiasm.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Day Three

The next morning, Harle was one of the first ones up. Noticing Marle opening her eyes, Harle cheerfully offered to get her some ice cream.

"Uh, sure." As Harle headed into the main room to get the food, Marle asked, rubbing sleep out of her eyes, "I thought she was sulking. I guess she got over it."

Harle provided the breakfast of choice (out of their meager supplies) to all the others, too, except Pierre, who slept on, oblivious.

Eating her ice cream, Marle said cheerily, "This is great! I'd never get to eat ice-cream for breakfast at home!"

Taking a bite of a brownie, Kid shook her head a little, and said, "I don't know. I'm already getting pretty sick of having junk food all the time. Doesn't this place have any real food?"

That morning, Harle hung out with Marle and Lucca. They were a little uneasy about this at first, especially after what Kid had told them, but they soon realized that despite her strange outfit, she could act quite ordinary when she wanted too, and she had apparently decided to do just that. Before long, they were chatting and gossiping like they'd known each other forever.

After an intense training session with Ayla, Crono called it quits for the morning sparring session. He couldn't afford to be too tired out for the day's challenge.

Kid and Robo discussed philosophy for a little while, then Kid went to chat with Marle and Lucca. However, Kid was surprised to find Harle with them, and felt she couldn't be comfortable spending any time with Harle.

Serge and Leena took this time to spend some time together, and mend their relationship.

As the day before, Pierre spent several hours primping and preening.

o-o-o-o

As noon neared, Vicks came by to tell them to get in their bathing suits and gather in the Dare room.

As Vicks left the Gray Room, Ayla (still there after the sparring session) asked, "What `bathing suit'?"

"It's what cha wear when ya go swimming," Korcha answered.

"Ayla wear same furs as always when swim."

"Then I guess you don't need to change, do ya?"

o-o-o-o

Soon all of those who were going to change had done so, and they all gathered in the Dare room.

Leena looked appreciatively at Serge. He wore only his shorts, and his body was lean and firm, though not heavily muscled. "My, doesn't this bring back memories. I love it when we go swimming together," she said.

Serge returned the look. Though her bathing suit was rather conservative, it did reveal her legs, which was daring for Leena.

Harle, who had traded her shoes and pants for a pair of flippers, ignored the two of them, and instead admired Crono's well muscled body, covered only by blue briefs. Also admiring Crono, though less obviously, were Lucca and Marle. Crono smiled at them. Like Leena, they had both chosen relatively conservative suits. Lucca wore an orange one-piece suit, while Marle wore a white suit with a skirt.

Glancing at Lucca, Marle commented, "You're going to wear your glasses while swimming?"

"We don't know that's what we're doing. If it turns out to be something like that, I'll take them off, but in the mean time, I want to be able to see what I'm doing."

"And what the guys have chosen to wear?"

Lucca glanced at Crono, who was smiling at Marle's comment. Turning her head so Crono couldn't see, she winked at Marle.

Out of the girls, the only to have chosen to wear anything sexy (other than Ayla, who had not changed her clothes at all) was Kid, who wore a skimpy, bright red bikini.

"Wow, nice suit," Korcha commented, not entirely succeeding in keeping the lust out of his voice.

Kid glanced at him, and nodded in acknowledgment. "Thanks." She then turned back to the dare wheel, waiting for Bekkler's arrival.

Korcha sighed. He had stripped down to his loincloth, and had hoped this might provoke some response in her, but since he never wore much more than that, it wasn't all that dramatic.

Pierre was overdressed, as always, in an elaborate light green suit. He did, at least, have bare feet.

Marle had taken a break from admiring Crono, and was now criticizing Frog and Robo's fashion sense. Frog had chosen one of his pairs of breeches as a bathing suit, while Robo, like Ayla, had not changed at all.

"That's the best you could do for a bathing suit?" Marle asked Frog.

Frog gave a slight croak. "In my day, swimming 'tis not a common pastime. If one should choose to do so, one oft' wears ones normal clothes, or if 'tis private, per'aps nothing at all."

Marle smiled at that idea. "So why not take it all off? You're a frog right? Frogs don't have anything to hide, do they?"

Frog croaked again. "That, thy highness, is precisely why I do not feel comfortable being seen unclothed."

Marle blushed and held her hand to her mouth. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't think..." Deciding to change the subject, she turned to Robo. "And you, I thought Vicks told you to change. You're wearing the same thing as always!"

"I have nothing to change into, Marle. If you observe, I am not alone in this. Miss Ayla has also not changed her clothes."

Marle turned and looked at Ayla. Without saying anything more to Frog and Robo, Marle strode over to Ayla. "Ayla, don't you know you're supposed to take off your boots and accessories when you go swimming?"

"Why?"

"Well, obviously, because... um... er..." Marle trailed off.

Moments later, Bekkler arrived. "Sorry to keep you waiting. If you will all follow me?" He floated down the north hall, and through the door at the end, which was now unlocked.

They found themselves in a large room, with walls and floor of blue stone. The room was vast, easily as big as the floor space of the entire Gray Team apartments. At one end was a large pool- filled with water, it looked like. Out of the pool rose twelve poles, barely wide enough for a person to stand on.

Bekkler announced that they'd have to do exactly that. "This challenge will test your balance and endurance. You will each stand on one of those poles. Anyone who can not maintain their balance, and falls off, is out of the challenge. The last person standing on each team will get a prize, and the one who lasts the longest of all gets an extra six points- a potential six-hundred GP.

"You probably want to know what the prize is. The winner of each team will get the chance to start a `serial dare'. The serial dare is a special type of dare, made up of ten parts. Should you accept the dare, you shall perform one part of the serial dare each Bonus Dare day, instead of performing a normal Bonus Dare. As a reward for accepting the serial dare, you shall receive sixty points- that's a full six points for each part of the dare. This will remove the uncertainty the rest of you will have to face during the Bonus Dare, and could prove useful should you not wish to participate in a challenge, for one must sacrifice six points, should one have them, to avoid a challenge."

"Speaking of which, if any of you would like to skip this challenge, now is the time to speak up."

When none responded, he said, "All right then," and turned to Korcha. "Before we begin, you may now remove that tape."

Korcha nodded. He tore the tape off, wincing in pain. Piette stepped up and took the tape, and left to throw it out.

Lucca took off her glasses, and Wedge took them for safekeeping.

At Bekkler's instruction, they all swam out to the posts. On the posts were rungs, which they used to climb up. Some, such as Robo, had a bit of difficulty getting up onto the top of the post.

From the left to the right, their order was: Ayla, Frog, Crono, Marle, Lucca, Leena, Serge, Kid, Korcha, Robo, Pierre, and Harle.

Finally, they were all up, and Bekkler gave them some final instructions. "Remember, from now on, you must remain standing. If any part of your body other than your feet touch the pole, you are disqualified. Oh, and no floating, Harle. As the challenge goes along, we shall make things harder. Good luck!" And with that, the clock started.

o-o-o-o

At first, they all remained silent, concentrating on the task at hand. That however, soon became boring.

"So, how come you get to stand next to Crono?" Lucca asked Marle.

"Well, you could have stood on the other side of him."

"But then we would've had to shout by him to talk with each other."

"Oh. Well, I'm the one destined to marry him, anyway, so it's only right I should get to stand by him."

"Hey, history could change. Besides, if you do get him in the end, I want to see as much of him as I can while he's still available."

"See him? How? You're not wearing your glasses."

Leena was listening to this conversation, so she didn't notice Serge admiring Kid's choice of swimwear. Kid turned to him and smiled. "Like my swimsuit?"

Serge nodded.

"I thought you might."

Leena whipped her head around to stare at them. "Serge, Kid, what do you think you're doiii-?" Unfortunately, she had turned so quickly that she lost her balance, and fell into the water.

"Are you all right?" Kid called down.

Leena ignored this and called up, "I don't care if you two are friends, just keep your eyes off her, Serge!"

Serge held up his hands in surrender, and nodded.

Bekkler announced, "And the first person is out of the challenge. Leena, if you'd come over here, you can get dried off."

Korcha thought, _Thank you, Leena. _

Harle called out in amusement, "Following in my footsteps, Kid?"

"You stay out of this!" Kid called back. As she had to shout past Korcha, she now saw him looking at her, with an admiration tinged with defiance. She stared back at him, an astounded look on her face.

He smiled at her. "Like my swimsuit?" he joked.

"Huh? What? Don't be ridiculous. Yeh look like yer wearin' a blinkin' red diaper. You should choose your clothing more carefully if ya want people to admire your looks." She folded her arms and turned her head forward. But after a moment, she turned her eyes back towards him.

"A diaper?" Korcha sounded exasperated. Despite the small space of the pole, he easily repositioned himself, facing straight towards her, his hands on his hips. "It's a loincloth. Ya' can't even tell cha difference between a diaper and a loincloth, and ya want ta lecture me on fashion?"

Kid gave him a mild smile. "So, now I'm the one without any fashion sense?" To herself, she thought, _His balance is incredible!_

"Well, I wouldn't go that far..." he said, eying her.

"Glad to hear it."

Leena left to change back into her normal clothes. When she got to the Red Room, she found some clothes neatly folded on the beds. It was the clothes that had gone in the hamper prior to the Bonus dare the day before.

After changing, she returned to the Challenge Room.

On her pole, Harle couldn't keep still, and began performing acrobatics.

"Show-off," Leena commented.

Stopping to catch her breath, Harle taunted Pierre. "Impressive, no? I bet you can not do so well."

Pierre laughed. "I shall show you!" He spun around in place... lost his balance, and fell to the water below.

Bekkler announced, "And, Pierre's out!"

Harle gave a haughty shake of her head, and said, "Two down, nine to go."

Pierre also went to go change, but he didn't bother coming back to watch.

After about twenty minuets, Lucca complained, "Man, my legs are getting sore."

"Tell me about it," Marle agreed. Crono nodded.

"What you complain about? Ayla have to stay perfectly still lot longer than this when stalking prey, sometimes. At least we can move how we want."

At the other end of the line of poles, Harle concurred. "Yes, zis is easy."

Marle folded her arms and grumbled.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and two men and two women dressed in formal waiter and waitress uniforms came in. One of the men had a platter holding several glasses in one hand, and a bucket with ice and several bottles in it in the other. The other man and the two women were carrying platters piled high with various types of food, including rice, chicken, green beans, corn, potatoes, and pasta.

As the men and women set the food and drinks on the table, Bekkler called out, "Anyone hungry?"

Marle held up her hand. "I am."

"Ayla hungry!"

Bekkler smiled. "Well, the Funhouse cooks have prepared a nice, hot meal for all of you. This isn't junk food, either. This is good, healthy and delicious food prepared by some of the finest cooks in the land including the great Orcha himself. Of course, if you want it, you'll have to get off your pole, and forfeit the challenge."

Lucca commented, "I knew there had to be a catch."

Bekkler told Leena she could eat what she wanted, and had Vicks go get Pierre.

"Man, that's tempting," Marle said.

Leena sat down at the table and started eating.

"How is it?" Marle called down to her.

"Really good!"

"Oh..."

Lucca warned, "Don't give in."

Pierre soon arrived, dressed in the clothes he'd worn the first day, and joined Leena at the table.

When Leena and Pierre had eaten their fill, there was still a good deal left.

About ten minutes later, the waiters and waitresses came in with more food- a chocolate cake, and several ice cream Sundays.

Bekkler announced, "If the feast my cooks prepared didn't tempt you, how about this?"

Marle couldn't take it anymore. "That's it for me!" She dived off the pole.

After drying off a bit, she wrapped herself in a towel and went to the table to eat. She grabbed one of the Sundays and began wolfing it down.

"Three down, eight to go," Harle commented.

After finishing his desert, Pierre returned to his quarters.

o-o-o-o

About twenty minutes later, Bekkler made another announcement. "You've been at this for an hour now, and we're about to make things more difficult. I hope your balance is good, because for the next half-hour you'll only be able to stand on one leg at a time. And you'll only be able to switch legs every ten minutes. If both feet touch the pole at any other time, you're disqualified. You have thirty seconds to choose a leg and get balanced on it, starting now."

"What?" Lucca said.

Kid swore.

"This could prove a challenge," Frog commented.

Lucca's legs were so tired that she lost her balance completely trying to stand on one foot, and tumbled into the water.

"I'm sorry, but you're out, Lucca," Bekkler announced.

"Four down, seven to go."

Though he looked clumsy, Robo had little trouble balancing himself, even on one leg. Harle, Korcha, and Ayla also managed quite well. Kid, Serge, and Crono were a bit unsteady however.

Korcha asked Kid, "Are you all right?"

"What? I'm fine!" She said, as she swayed, and waved her arms wildly to regain her balance.

Lucca dried off, and Wedge returned her glasses to her. She then went and joined the others at the table. The first batch of food was cold by now, but much of it still tasted quite good.

"Did you try any of this?" Lucca asked Marle.

Marle moaned. "No, but I think I ate too much ice-cream."

When Bekkler announced they could change legs if they wanted to, only Robo declined.

However, Kid had a bit of difficulty maintaining her balance. Even after Bekkler announced their thirty seconds to switch was up, she was still unbalanced, and accidentally touched the pole with her other foot.

Bekkler told her, "Sorry, you're disqualified, Kid."

"Damn." She held her nose and stepped off the pole.

As Kid climbed out of the water, Harle commented, "Five down, six to go."

Kid was quite happy to get some real food in her stomach, even if it was cold. After eating, Kid went to change back into her normal clothes. Marle and Lucca did not want to miss anything however, and stayed at the table. There wasn't much to miss though. Nothing had happened yet when Kid returned.

o-o-o-o

The second leg switch went without a hitch.

Then Bekkler announced. "The half-hour is over. You can put your leg down. However, don't get used to being on both legs just yet. For the next fifteen minutes, you must perform a handstand. That's right, only your hands will be able to touch the pole. If your feet do, or any other part of your body, you're disqualified. You have one minute to switch."

Kid commented, "I'm glad I'm not up there."

Marle agreed.

Harle switched as if it were the easiest thing in the world, and Korcha and Ayla had little difficulty. With his bulky body, everybody thought Robo would be unable to make the switch, but somehow he managed it. Serge and Frog managed it with some difficulty, but Crono lost his balance and fell.

As Crono swam to the edge, Ayla said, "Ayla have more teach Crono than Ayla thought."

"Six down, five to go," Harle said.

"You know, that's really getting annoying," Korcha complained.

Though Serge had managed a handstand, he couldn't sustain it long. Within a few minutes, he too fell.

"Seven do-"

"We get cha picture," Korcha interrupted her.

Crono ate ravenously, and only stopped when Marle and Lucca insisted he leave some food for the others. However, by that point, there was barely enough left to satisfy Serge.

Serge decided to leave a little for who ever came after him, even though it meant he was still a bit hungry.

After he finished eating, Crono decided to go change, and Marle and Lucca finally decided to do the same. Serge soon finished as well, and went to go change. Not having anyone left to root for, Leena left with him.

A little while later, Crono, Lucca, and Marle returned. This wasn't the most interesting of challenges to watch, but all they really had to do was talk, which they could do just as easily in here as in one of the apartments.

o-o-o-o

The five remaining on the poles managed to last the fifteen minutes.

"Well, you've made it through your fifteen minute hand-stand. That's an hour and forty-five minutes in all. Good work. I'm afraid it isn't about to get any easier, though. First of all, we'll be taking away what's left of the food in a few minutes, so if you want a change from what's in your cupboards, now is the time to quit. If you decide to continue, you must continue your handstand, but now with only one hand. Like your first handstand, this will last fifteen minutes; we'll let you switch arms every five minutes. You have thirty seconds."

Again, Harle made it look easy. "Is this supposed to be difficult?" She yawned.

Korcha complained, "Man, I'm not use-cha this kinda thing. My arms are getting sore."

Ayla admitted, "Ayla never stalked prey on hands before. Ayla get tired, too."

As for Frog, he was so tired that when he tried to balance on just one hand, his arm gave out. He hit the pole face first, then tumbled into the water. Marle, Lucca and Kid gasped. Vicks and Wedge moved towards the water with concern, but Frog came out of the water before they got there.

With concern, Bekkler asked, "Are you all right? If you're injured, my staff knows some healing magic."

"Nay, I am fine. I have received far worse in battle."

"Just the same, why don't you get him a tonic," Bekkler told Piette. He headed out.

Frog easily finished off what was left of the food, except for a few slices of cake, which Crono, Marle, and Lucca split. When Piette returned with the tonic, Frog graciously accepted it.

After finishing the tonic, Frog headed back to the Grey room.

o-o-o-o

The first switch between arms went fine. (As with the leg switches, Robo didn't bother.) Before the second, though, Korcha had had enough, and let himself fall into the water.

"Nine down, two to go," Harle tallied.

Bekkler announced, "Harle, you are the last member of the Gray team, thus you win the right to spin for a serial dare when you get down. However, if you wish for the six point first place prize, you still must outlast Robo and Ayla."

"Oui. I know zis."

"Just making it official."

Korcha dried off, and headed to go change. Kid watched him leave, but didn't get up.

A few minutes later, she stood up and stretched. "Well, this is beginin' ta bore me. I'll be in the Gray room, ya guys."

"Okay," Lucca said. Crono nodded.

After Kid left, Marle giggled. "She'd never admit it, but I think Kid has a thing for Korcha!"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "You think?"

At the end of the fifteen minutes, Bekkler announced, "Good work, you three. You've managed to stay up there for two hours. You can get back to your feet now, if you wish. From this point on, you can stay on the pole however you want, so long as you don't rest any part of your body on the rungs you climbed up to get there.

"Now, you might think I'm going easy on you. After all you've endured, I could get away with it- you could well be tired enough for staying on at all to be a challenge. But I'm not going easy on you. The game is going to continue to grow harder. I'm just not going to tell you what to expect now, or when. You'll just have to be prepared for anything.

"In the mean time, I have other things to attend to, so I'll leave Vicks, Wedge, and Piette to oversee things here. Good luck to all three of you." And with that, he floated away.

"So, we can stay on ze pole 'owever we want, oui?" Harle asked.

She had meant it as a rhetorical question, but Wedge answered, "That's right."

"Well, zen, I t'ink I shall stand on my head for a while." And she did.

Ayla got back on her feet, and began stretching.

Robo attempted to get back on his feet, but his bulky body finally was his undoing, and he lost his balance. He hit the water like a rock.

"Robo is out of the challenge," Wedge announced.

"And now it iz just you and I," Harle said to Ayla, performing a flip that left her standing on the pole on her feet.

Ayla looked at her. "Ayla no loose."

Piette called out, "The winner for the red team is Ayla."

Vicks added, "Ayla, when you get down from there, you can spin the Dare wheel to determine your serial dare. But first, we have to see which of you two can last up there the longest."

After a moment's pause, Ayla asked, "What serial dare?"

Crono, Marle, and Lucca fell out of their seats.

* * *

_Who shall win the individual challenge, Harle or Ayla? And what of the upcoming team challenge? Find out in the next episode of "The Funhouse"! _


	5. Episode Four

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

Episode Four  
Preliminary Round Part 3

Previously: Red team attempted to win their team dare, by proclaiming they were "number one," but Ayla and Leena failed.

Later, they were all called to the Challenge Room to perform their first individual challenge. The person on each team who managed to stay on their pole long enough would win the chance to perform the special "Serial Dare". And of those two, the one who lasted longer would get six extra points.

Now, only Ayla and Harle remain. Which one of them will win the challenge?

* * *

Character Scoreboard:

Red Team:

_**Crono:  
**_Points: 6

_**Lucca:  
**_Points: 6

_**Robo:  
**_Points: 6

_**Ayla:  
**_Points: 0

_**Serge:  
**_Points: 6

_**Leena:  
**_Points: 0

.

Gray Team:

_**Frog:  
**_Points: 6

_**Marle:  
**_Points: 6

_**Korcha:**_  
Points: 6

_**Kid:  
**_Points: 6

_**Pierre:  
**_Points: 6

_**Harle:  
**_Points: 6

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Serge and Leena took most of the afternoon to continue strengthening their relationship, taking advantage of the less crowded house.

Meanwhile, something had been bothering Frog, and he decided now was the time to do something about it. He looked around, and found Pierre in the Grey Room bathroom area, combing his hair in front of the mirror.

"Excuse me, Pierre, dost thou have a moment?"

He glanced at Frog, then turned back to the mirror. "What can I do for you, Monsieur Frog?"

"I couldst not help but observe thy medal, and was most curious as to how thou came to possess it."

"Ah, you refer to my Hero Medal. It is the proof of my bravery and skill. You see..."

o-o-o-o

When Kid got back to the Grey room, Korcha was already dressed. "What brings cha here?"

"This is my apartment, too, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. We've been goin' back and forth so much, it gets hard to remember who's in which team."

"Yeah, almost feels like we're just one big team. But there's a team challenge tomorrow, and we're going to have to start thinking like a team."

"Yeah."

They stood there, looking at each other, trying to think of something else to say.

As the silence became awkward, Kid said, "Well, I guess I'm gonna go sharpen my dagger." She started to walk towards the bedroom door.

Korcha raised his hand, as if to stop her. He hesitated, trying to think of something to say to her.

When she had walked out of the room, and he still hadn't said anything, he cursed under his breath.

o-o-o-o

"Impressive, no?"

"Aye. Thou certainly deserveth the medal more than some who have held it," Frog said, thinking of Tata. "Yet, I fear thy tale still cannot compare to the battle Sir Cyrus fought to wrest the medal away from the Frog King."

"Sir Cyrus? You mean ze great hero of Guardia, who lost 'is life battling ze evil Magus?"

"Aye, the same."

"He possessed the Hero medal?"

"Yes. Art thou saying thou hast not heard the tale?"

"No, I 'aven't."

"Perhaps it is time thou learnest it..."

And so, Frog told Pierre of how Cyrus and Glenn had set out on a long quest to recover the Hero's Medal from the Frog King.

When Frog finished, Pierre was impressed. "Zat is quite ze tale. But I do not understand, if Cyrus possessed the Medal, why was it not lost when he confronted Magus?"

"Sir Cyrus was not alone when he confronted Magus. His companion, Glenn, accompanied him on the quest to find the Masamune, as he had on the quest for the Hero's medal. And though they were attacked and overcame by Magus on this quest, Magus let Glenn live. It was he who carried the Hero's medal back to civilization."

"Magus let Glenn live? Why would 'e do a t'ing such as zat? I did not t'ink Magus to be ze merciful sort."

"It was not entirely a mercy..."

"I do not follow."

"Among the powers possessed by the Magus was the power to transform his enemies into other forms if it so pleased him. After defeating Cyrus, Magus amused himself by transforming Glenn into what he considered to be a most ignoble and foolish form..."

"And what form might zat be?"

Frog merely croaked in response.

Pierre looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

Frog bowed eloquently.

Pierre didn't quite know what to make of that. "Are you zaying he was transformed into a demi-human frog such as yourself?"

"Aye."

"What a horrible t'ing! Zat Magus truly was cruel, to transform someone into such a disgusting form. Er... I did not mean to imply zat you are disgusting, merely zat for a human to be transformed into one would be horrible."

"Fear not, I knowest exactly what thou mean. Indeed, I myself considered the frog a most unpleasant creature, before I became one. However, there is much to redeem this form, and were I to see Magus today, I wouldst thank him, for giving me such a useful form."

"You are not zaying... But, zat was over three hundred years ago!"

"Surely thou hast heard, my friends and I are time-travelers?"

Pierre was speechless.

o-o-o-o

It had been almost an hour since Bekkler had left the Challenge room, when one of the unheralded complications he had alluded to occurred.

Lucca and Marle were talking, and Harle was taunting Ayla, when a sprinkler-like system started pouring water down on the pool.

"What iz this?"

"Rain? Inside? Funhouse roof no good. Has leaks."

Lucca called up, "I think this is supposed to happen. They're making it rain to increase the challenge."

"Floating Head can make it rain? Floating Head have strong magic!"

Lucca shook her head and moaned.

The rain lasted for about fifteen minutes. Though it made both Harle and Ayla cold, soggy, and uncomfortable, neither even considered conceding.

The rain returned several times over the next couple of hours, varying from five minutes to half an hour in length.

o-o-o-o

At dinnertime, the contestants were all gathered together again in the challenge room, for a supper courtesy of the Funhouse staff.

Bekkler returned to tempt Harle and Ayla. "It's been six hours since you climbed up there, and in that time, you two have had nothing to eat. In fact, you probably haven't eaten since breakfast this morning. By now, you must be pretty hungry. If you want something to eat, all you have to do is give up and come down."

"Don't be absurd, Monsieur Bekkler."

"Ayla win!"

"Suit yourselves."

The other contestants gratefully ate the meal provided.

Marle commented, "You know, it makes me feel a bit guilty, eating this, while those two don't get anything."

Lucca pointed out, "Well, it's their choice to stay up there. Personally, I would have gave up long ago. I'm sure there'll be much better opportunities to win six points later on."

"They're just so stubborn. Neither one is willing to back down."

When they were done eating, Bekkler had one more announcement. "If you recall, when you first got to the funhouse the other day, I told you, you must spend two consecutive nights in your own room before you could sleep in the other apartment for a night. Well, you've all slept two nights in your rooms, so if you wish, you may choose which apartment to sleep in now."

Marle perked up at this. "That's great! Those red room beds look pretty comfortable."

"Keep in mind, however, only six players may sleep in one apartment at a time."

"Oh."

Lucca told her, "Don't worry, it looks like we'll have an extra bed tonight. And if not, I'm sure we can work something out."

Soon, Harle and Ayla faced another challenge. Fans in the walls activated, buffeting them with a high wind. Not only did this threaten to blow them off the platforms, but it also made their wet skin and clothes even colder.

The wind stopped after a few minutes.

"This worse than hunting Nu!" Ayla commented, hugging herself and shivering.

"Worse zen hunting new what?" Harle asked.

o-o-o-o

Around eight, another complication was added to Ayla and Harle's challenge- the poles began shaking, as if there were an earthquake. Ayla crouched down, and grabbed the edge of the pole to increase her hold on it. Harle remained standing, but even she had to work to maintain her balance. Fortunately, the "quake" only lasted twenty seconds.

o-o-o-o

Finally, Marle yawned and said she wanted to go get ready for bed.

"So soon?" Lucca asked.

"Well, I want to take a shower before bed, and with six people, things tend to get a bit busy before bed time."

"Why don't you take a bath in the red room? Right now, your only competition would be Serge and Leena."

"Do you really think that would be all right?"

"Why not? You're going to be sleeping in the Red Room tonight, right? Why not enjoy the entire experience?"

"That would be great! Thanks!"

Marle and Lucca headed out. Crono debated following them, but figured he'd only get in their way.

Marle invited Kid and Frog to join the slumber party, but they declined, not wanting to kick any of the Red Team out of their own room.

After a little while, Crono grew bored and headed out. Robo, who could not grow bored, stayed behind to report if anything interesting happened.

o-o-o-o

At the Red room, Crono found that the girls had decided to treat Marle's being there as a sort of slumber party.

Meanwhile, in the Grey room, the place seemed a bit empty with only four people in it.

"Imagine how empty this place'll be when people have to start leaving the Funhouse," Kid pointed out.

"Ya got a point there," Korcha agreed.

"Listen, ya blokes," Kid said, changing subjects, "tomorrow's the team challenge. If we're gonna win this, we're going to have to start thinkin' of ourselves as a team."

Frog responded, "Aye. 'Tis unfortunate two of our team are not present."

"No kiddin'. I shoulda convinced Marle not to sleep in the Red Room tonight."

Frog croaked out a laugh. "It wouldst be quite a feat for any to convince Marle to do other than that which she has set her mind to."

Korcha commented, "She's a stubborn one, huh-cha?"

Kid snorted. "Spoiled, more like it."

Their "party" slowed down the girls in the Red Room, but they still managed to get to bed at a reasonable time. (Marle and Lucca decided to sleep in the same bed.) However, after a day like this, and with the novelty of the sleepover, they had a hard time getting to sleep.

o-o-o-o

In the challenge room, the rain started up again. This time, it lasted for a long time. After twenty minutes, the wind picked up again. The wind lasted about five minutes, then abated for five before blowing for a good fifteen minutes. Finally, the wind and rain abated, just in time for Wedge to tell Robo it was time to head back to the red room.

Robo found the girls still awake, and was obliged to report on the events in the challenge room.

And then, in the challenge room, the lights went out.

o-o-o-o

The rain, wind, and quakes continued on throughout the night, lasting longer and longer, and overlapping more and more often.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

_**Day Four**_

"That was nice. You've got really good beds in here. We should do that again," Marle told Lucca the next morning.

Anxious to find out what was going on in the Challenge room, Marle slipped on her sandals and told Lucca, "Let's go see how Ayla's doing!"

"Wait, I have to get changed first. Unlike some people, I don't sleep in my clothes."

"Oh, don't be so priggish. It's all right to let the others see your pajamas. I mean, it's not like the rest of your team hasn't already seen them. And if you're talking about me sleeping in my clothes, I don't, not really."

"Oh yeah, that's right. You run around in your highly conservative underwear. I forgot." Lucca rolled her eyes, and Marle had enough modesty to at least blush.

While Lucca got changed, Marle tried to wake up Crono. He had a hard time keeping his eyes open, but at her insistence, he got up and put on his boots, and they went to the Challenge room.

The Challenge room was lit again, but Harle and Ayla looked positively miserable on their poles. They were both shivering and soaking wet, and neither looked happy.

"Good morning, Ayla. How's it going?"

"Ayla tired. Get no sleep all night."

"Well, you could have always given up. I mean, is six points really worth it?"

"Not about points. Ayla no loose!"

Harle asked Marle and Crono, "What, no greeting for moi?"

"Good morning, Harle."

Soon, Lucca showed up, Ayla told them a bit about the challenges they'd faced over the night, in total darkness.

o-o-o-o

Serge and Pierre were both still in bed, when Piette came around to tell them that the cooks had provided a breakfast for them. As with the past two meals, it would be served in the challenge room, to tempt Ayla and Harle.

Upon being informed of this, Pierre got up, but refused to leave the apartment until he performed his morning hygienic ritual. Korcha and Frog merely had to pull on their clothes to be ready, but Kid had only gotten changed, by this point, not tied her hair back or put on her makeup. Not wanting to wait for Pierre to finish with the bathroom area, she opted to head to the challenge room as she was.

Back in the Red room, Robo didn't need to prepare at all in the morning, but he didn't need to eat, either. Leena tried to get Serge up, but he wouldn't budge. Leena was annoyed by this, but let him sleep while she got changed. Then she tried to get him up again. After a bit more prodding, he finally got up.

o-o-o-o

When Leena and Serge arrived in the challenge room, Pierre still hadn't made it there.

As they were eating, Korcha complimented Kid on her hair. "Your hair looks good loose like that-cha."

"Yer just sayin' that ta try and flatter me. I haven't even had a chance ta comb it yet."

He shrugged. "Well, then, I suppose it'll look even better when you do comb it."

"Yer hopeless, ya know that, Korcha?"

Not long after this exchange, Pierre finally came in and took his seat.

After breakfast, Marle headed back to the Red Room to finish getting dressed.

While the others sat around the table chatting, Kid got up and walked to the edge of the pool. She called up to Harle, "Ya know, Harle, there's gonna be a team challenge today. Ya could conceded and get some rest before the challenge. I don't know about you, but I'd hate to be responsible for loosing a challenge for the team."

"Do not worry, mon puce. I have boundless energy!" The assurance of this statement was lessened a bit by the fact that she seemed to be having a hard time keeping her eyes open as she said it.

"If ya say so."

Kid headed back to the Grey Room to finish getting ready for the day.

Soon Serge, Korcha, Frog, and Pierre headed back to the Grey Room to get in a bit of sparring. A few minutes later, Lucca and Leena ran out of things to talk about, and they headed back towards the Red Room. However, Marle met them in the hall, and told them she was heading back to the Challenge room to root for Ayla. Deciding Marle might make things a bit more interesting, Lucca and Leena decided to go back to the Challenge room with her.

Meanwhile, Crono walked around the unlocked Funhouse area, double-checking to make sure they hadn't missed anything the first time.

When Kid was done washing up and putting on her face and body paints, she joined them.

When Kid entered the room, Marle giggled. "So, I guess Korcha's flattery must have worked."

"What are ya talkin' about?"

Leena joined in the ribbing. "What, you're going to tell us it's just a coincidence that the same day Korcha compliments you on how you look with your hair down, you decide not to braid your hair for the first time since you got here?"

"Er..." She began to blush. Then she gave a sly smile. "Sure I'm going ta tell you that. Doesn't necessarily mean it's true, but that's what I'm going to tell you."

Leena, Lucca, and Marle all giggled at this.

o-o-o-o

There weren't any more complications for the next hour or so, and Ayla and Harle had begun to dry off. Tired, Ayla crouched on the platform, supporting herself on both hands and feet. Harle, meanwhile, was on two feet, but she seemed to be snoring. She even had a bubble coming out of her nose.

Ayla was a bit disgruntled. "Harle sleep standing? How do that?"

The bubble popped, and Harle jerked. "I was not sleeping. I was just... er..."

"Harle no fool Ayla."

"Why would I be sleeping? I am not even tired. I will show you!" She began doing acrobatics again. "See? Could I do zis if I was tired?"

Just then, another "quake" began. Ayla tightened her grip, and rode it out, but Harle, off balance when it began, was thrown off. She quickly floated back, but Wedge called it.

"No floating, Harle. You're out. Ayla, you win the challenge!"

Ayla gave a cheer and thrust her fist into the air.

Harle crossed her arms and grumbled.

Vicks, Wedge, and Piette told everyone to rendezvous at the Dare Room.

When they got there, the players noticed that the spots on the wheel had been labeled:

I- Clothing

II- Costumes

III- Messy Stuff

IV- Restraint

V- Appearance

VI- Role Playing

VII- Activities

VIII- Easy Dares

IX- Magic

X- Transformation

Bekkler soon arrived, and congratulated Ayla on her win. As he spoke, her score rose to six.

"Now, you and Harle will spin for your serial dares. If you choose not to accept your dare, the player in your team who did second best will have a chance to spin for a serial dare, and so on, until one member of each team has accepted a serial dare. If you do accept your serial dare, but later change your mind, you shall loose the sixty points you shall gain for accepting- so do not take this lightly.

"Ayla, you may go first."

Ayla walked up to the wheel.

She spun a ten.

On the chalkboard, the chalk wrote, "Serial Dare X: `Metamorphosis'. Transform into another form, one piece at a time."

Bekkler explained, "So, if you accept this dare, you'll get 60 points, and at each Bonus Dare round, we shall transform one part of your body into something, until, at the end of the game, you are completely transformed." He pulled out a deck of cards. "Pick a card to determine what you'll transform into."

Harle picked a card. On it was a picture of Serge, and to make things even clearer, it was labeled, "Serge".

"Ayla become Serge?"

"Yes, although your mind would remain the same. When you leave the game, you would be returned to normal. So, do you dare to become Serge, for Sixty points?"

Ayla shook her head. "Ayla no want become Serge."

"Very well then. The Red Team serial dare will be passed on to Robo. He can take a spin in a moment. First, though, Harle, it's your turn."

Harle spun a six: "Serial Dare VI: `Identity Crisis'. Play a different role each round, for the entire round."

Bekkler explained, "So, for Sixty points, we'll ask you to a bit of role-playing. Each Bonus Dare, we'll ask you to act in a certain way until the next Bonus Dare; such as being passive, being evil, acting like a famous character, or, perhaps, like someone you know. Well, Harle, do you dare have an identity crisis?"

Harle laughed. "My dear Monsieur Bekkler, I have been 'aving one for az long as I can remember. But in answer to you question, yes, I dare."

Harle's points rose to sixty-six.

Now, it was Robo's turn. He spun the wheel, and got a ten, just as Ayla had.

Bekkler held out the deck of cards. "Pick a card to determine what you'll be transformed into if you accept."

The card he picked said, Plastic Doll/ Action Figure, and had an illustration of each of these.

"What sort of action figure would I become?"

"An action figure of yourself, naturally. Your body would simply be turned to plastic. Under other circumstances, it might be different, but since this is the serial dare, I can specify that your action figure form will be life-sized, and fully articulated. In other words, you'll still be the same size and able to move, you'll just be made out of plastic."

"And you shall reverse the transformation when the game is over?"

"Of course. All dares end when the game ends or the player leaves the game."

"Very well. I accept."

His points rose to sixty-six.

Bekkler announced, "All right, well, that's it the Preliminaries. I'll see you a little later for the Round One Team Challenge." He rose up to the ceiling, and disappeared.

When they got back to their rooms, Ayla and Harle immediately went to bed. Since she wasn't using it at the moment, Lucca let Ayla sleep in her bed. (However, Lucca did clear the guys out so she could have Ayla take off her damp clothes first.)

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o  
The Funhouse: Round One  
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Near noon, Vicks and Wedge came around to tell each team it was time for the team challenge. Since he was one of the teams strongest, and didn't have a real gender, Robo was given the dangerous task of waking Ayla up. Meanwhile, Kid took it upon herself to kick Harle out of bed.

When everyone had gathered in the Dare Room, Wedge led them down the east hall, and unlocked the door at the end of it. Inside, they found a cafeteria, with two tables. Each table had room for six people- one full team. One table was colored red, the other gray. On the tables were a large number of pies, of all sorts of flavors- chocolate, lemon, blueberry, apple, pudding, ext.

"Wow, that's a lot of pies," Marle commented.

Robo added, "Thirty-six per table, to be precise."

Bekkler arrived with a cackle. "Welcome to the Round One Team Challenge. This challenge shall be a pie-eating contest. The team that collectively eats the most pies the fastest will win. However, you must eat the pies without using your hands. To ensure this, we'll tie your hands behind your back for the duration.

"If you win, you'll win the key to the cafeteria, and the right to come here at mealtimes for a nutritious and delicious meal. As with all team challenges, you'll also win the right to perform a team dare tomorrow.

"If you loose this challenge, however, your punishment shall be that you will not be able to wash your faces for twenty four hours- and after this challenge your faces will be very messy.

"If anyone wishes to back out of the challenge, now is the time. Keep in mind, if you do, you shall loose six points if you have them."

Pierre wanted to back out, but his teammates convinced him to stay in, for the sake of the team. All the others were game.

Bekkler's assistants tied their hands behind their backs.

"What a day to decide not to tie my hair back," Kid commented sourly.

Once their hands were tied, Bekkler told them, "Now, go to your tables. When I tell you, you may start eating. The first team to eat all the pies on their table wins. If neither team can finish them all, the one who ate the most wins."

They all sat at their spots. "Ready, and ... go!"

o-o-o-o

Crono, Ayla, and Marle plunged their faces into their pies and began practically inhaling them. Most of the others tried to at least minimize the mess they made, but still tried to eat quickly. Frog was able to accomplish this quite well, thanks to his tongue. Pierre however, did little more than nibble at his pie, in an attempt to not get any at all on his face- though he failed, getting a little bit on his nose. Robo, surprisingly, managed eat rather fast, despite lacking what one would call a mouth- and despite not having a digestive tract. (He sucked it in through the ventilation slits on his face, and presumably deposited it in some storage space within his body.)

Crono, Ayla, Marle, and Frog quickly finished their first pies, and each moved on to their second. In fact, by time the others moved to their own second pies, these four were almost done with theirs.

As Ayla and Crono moved onto their third pies, Lucca tried to pick up her own pace. Unfortunately, this caused her glasses to come loose, and drop into the chocolate pie she was eating.

She managed to get them out of the pie, but couldn't spare the time to put them on again. (Besides, being covered in chocolate, they wouldn't have done much good, anyway). Not having her glasses did not impede her eating, but it did make it harder to judge what she was doing, and she quickly ended up much more messy than most of her counterparts- except Crono, Ayla, and Marle, who's faces were already plastered with pie filling.

After their third or fourth pie, most of the players became full, and had to slow down. Marle made it to her fifth before this became a problem for her, and Frog his sixth. Crono and Ayla began to slow down soon, too, but by that point the two of them had each reached their eighth pie. Robo never had to slow down, but reached his carrying capacity at five pies.

By now, everyone was a mess. Pierre now had a little on his chin and cheeks, in addition to the tip of his nose. Frog had a bit around his lips. Serge, Leena, and Korcha had a thick layer of pie filling (of various kinds) around their lips, chin, cheeks, and lower nose. In addition to this, Kid had some in her hair, which had fallen in the pies several times. Robo's "mouth" area was also quite a mess. Lucca's face was nearly completely covered in various fillings. Harle's face was completely covered in pie, but she had managed not to get any on the rest of her- even the tassels hanging from her hood and neck.

Crono, Ayla, and Marle were the messiest of all. In addition to copious amounts of pie on their faces, they had pieces of pie and filling on their chests and shirts as well. In Ayla's case, there was quite a bit of this, and even a few stray bits on her legs.

When Marle looked up to get her next pie, she noticed that the Red team was down to only a few pies, and though they'd slowed down, Crono and Ayla showed no signs of stopping.

She turned her pie-covered face to her companions, especially Frog. "Come on, guys. We've got to speed things up here, or we'll loose!"

Frog paused long enough to acknowledge this, then went back to eating, at a frenzied pace.

As Marle plunged her face into another pie, Kid told her, "I don't think that's possible. If I eat any more, I think I'll burst!"

"Well, we have ta try-cha!" Korcha said, and returned to his pie.

"I refuse to risk getting my face dirty," Pierre said.

"It already is," Kid told him. Looking at the couple of pie tins Pierre had cleaned, Kid asked, "Ya must be able to eat mor'n that! Come on! You may be the team's only hope- unless you want to have to keep pie on your face until tomorrow's dares."

"My face, dirty? Impossible! I was much too careful. Besides, it is a lost cause at zis point. So it is because I do not want pie on my face for ze rest of ze day zat I shall not eat faster."

Harle's objected, her voice muffled by the pie she had her face stuffed in. "An why ould oo ee ee ony one in ee eam oo ave a ean ace? Oo all ick ou ike ee ore umb." Lifting her face out of the now empty pie tin to grab another, she said, "Monsieur Pierre, I fear your actions are not endearing you to ze team."

Pierre cringed, seeing Harle's face, so covered in pie that huge gobs were dripping off it.

Marle was eating so fast that she accidentally knocked a pie she was in the middle of eating off the table, onto her lap- facedown, of course. Marle moaned. "Oh, that's going to stain!"

She contorted herself, trying to grab the pie plate with her mouth. Vicks came over and grabbed it for her. He then placed it back on the table. "We won't worry about what ended up on you, but you will need to eat what's left in the plate for this pie to count."

"Right." Without hesitation, she returned to it.

Deciding to put team spirit over his personal scruples, Pierre sighed. "I suppose sacrifices must be made for the good of ze team." He returned to his pie, and began eating at a faster pace, though it was actually about the same speed most of them had started out at.

Marle finished the partially spilled pie, and moved on to another. As she did, she noted they only had six pies left. If they could all just eat one more, they could win. But it was too late. She had barely begun the new pie, when Crono and Ayla finished the last of Red Team's pies.

Bekkler announced, "And, Red Team wins again!"

Most of Gray team moaned- and not entirely because they had just lost.

After they were untied, Bekkler handed Crono a key. "Red team, this is the key to this cafeteria. You may now come here for all you meals.

"Breakfast is from eight to nine, lunch is from noon to one, and dinner is from five to six. If you show up outside of those hours, the staff might give you something, if they have anything prepared, but that's up to them. Incidentally, the pies you ate in this contest are your lunch for today. The next regular meal they'll be serving is dinner, tonight.

"Tomorrow, you shall have another chance to win a team dare, and this time, twelve points for your team. You may head back to your apartment and get cleaned up."

Kid said sourly, "Meanwhile, we're stuck all dirty like this."

Pierre commented, "How embarrassing."

Meanwhile, Lucca walked over to Marle. She had wiped off her glasses, but they still weren't very clean. "Sorry about that," she told Marle. "I know you don't like being dirty. But we had to fight for our team, you know?"

"It's fine, I understand. Besides, it's not your fault. It looked like Crono and Ayla were the ones who ate the most on your team."

"No kidding! I estimate they ate almost two thirds of our team's pies by themselves."

"Wow. That's quite a big piece of the pie for just two people, isn't it?" She giggled at her own play on words.

Bekkler announced, "Now, before you leave, Gray Team, I have something to discuss with you. Red team, you may listen in if you want, but it doesn't really concern you."

Leena said, "Well, I want to go get clean." She headed back to the Red Room, followed by Serge.

Ayla yawned. "Ayla go rest more." Lucca said sternly, "You're not using the bed until you're washed up, you understand? In fact, you should wash up before you lie in the chair, too. It's all right for the chair to get a little dirty, but we don't want pie-filling all over it.

Ayla sighed. "Why Lucca so afraid of getting stuff dirty? Just dirt. Never kill anyone."

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Actually, the spread of pathogens through unsanitary practices is the chief cause of-"

Marle interrupted her. "Oh, don't bother, Lucca. You know she can't understand a word you're saying. Heck, I can only understand every other word you say. Ayla, don't worry about why. Just do what Lucca says. It isn't that hard, and it'll make Lucca happy, okay?"

"Okay. Ayla go take bath." She headed out.

Bekkler cleared his throat. "Ah-hem. If you are done? Gray Team: As I said before, you are not allowed to wash off. If you want, you may change your clothes, but try not to wipe off too much pie in the process. If you do wipe a large amount off accidentally, now or while you're sleeping tonight, report to the supply room (not the cafeteria), and they'll give you a new pie in the face.

"We will be keeping track of how much pie is on your face- if you are found with too much off, and you don't report to the supply room, you will be penalized, except under circumstances we'll get to in a moment.

"Your sheets and pillows won't be changed until the next team challenge, so if you do get your bed dirty, you'll have to live with it, as well.

"Finally, if you really can't stand being this dirty, there is one way you can clean up- you can eat the pie that you got on you. However, these pies were meant to be eaten without using hands or utensils, so you can't just wipe yourself off and eat it. You can only eat what you can reach with your tongue or mouth. Now, this might seem to limit how much you clean yourselves, but take note there's no rule that says you can only eat the pie on your own face and body."

Kid asked, flabbergasted, "You mean, you want us to eat off each other?"

"Zat is disgusting!" Pierre complained.

Bekkler shrugged his hands. "I didn't say we want you to do it- we're merely giving you the option in case you're interested. If you do decide to do this, please inform one of my staff- I'll have at least one member stationed at the Dare Wheel at all times for the next twenty-four hours. You may either let the staff member watch, or he can tie both your hands behind your backs to make it harder to cheat when eating your pie in private. This way, we'll know you removed the pie through legitimate means."

Frog spoke up. "Might I use mine tongue to cleanse mine self presently?"

"Of course."

And with that permission, Frog used his long tongue to clean his entire face off.

"Showoff," Korcha grumbled.

Bekkler added, "Keep in mind, that though you may get all the pie off of you, you still aren't allowed to wash your face until noon tomorrow."

Marle raised her hand. "Does the person who eats the pie off of us have to be from our own team?"

"No, anyone you can convince to do it can, so long as they use only their mouth and tongue to do it."

She put her hand to her chin in thought. "This could be interesting." She glanced at Crono, and he blushed.

Then she pulled her hand away from her chin, and looked at it in disgust, realizing she'd gotten pie on it. "Oops."

* * *

_NEXT: Some players have a hard time dealing with being messy. Others have a bit of fun getting less messy. And then comes another round of dares. What will the players be dared to do this time?_


	6. Episode Five

Author's Note: The following episode is rated "M" for adult themes. I used to have a PG version available at my website - back when I had a website. Currently, however, if you're not into that sort of thing, you'll either need to skim over the scenes in question or quit reading. Sorry.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**Crono Crossover: The Funhouse**

**Episode Five (Uncut)  
Round One Part 1**

Previously: Ayla won the Individual challenge, for a reward of six points. Later, the two teams competed in a pie-eating contest for the right to visit the cafeteria for meals. The Red Team won, and with it, the chance to perform a team dare in the upcoming Round One Bonus Dare. Gray team, meanwhile, has to deal with not being able to wash off the pie they got on their faces in the challenge. Of course, they can get clean, if they want to let someone else eat the pie off of them!

* * *

Character Scoreboard:

**Red Team: **

_**Crono:  
**_Points: 6

_**Lucca:  
**_Points; 6

_**Robo:  
**_(Serial Dare X: "Metamorphosis" into action figure.)  
Points: 66

_**Ayla:  
**_Points: 6

_**Serge:  
**_Points: 6

_**Leena:  
**_Points: 0

.

**Gray Team:**

_**Frog:  
**_Conditions: Can't wash face. (24 hrs.)  
Points: 6

_**Marle:  
**_Condition: Face, upper chest covered in pie. (24 hrs)  
Points: 6

_**Korcha:  
**_Conditions: Lower face covered in pie (24 hrs)  
Points: 6

_**Kid:  
**_Conditions: lower face covered in pie, some pie in hair (24 hrs)  
Points: 6

_**Pierre:  
**_Conditions: pie on lower face (24 hrs)  
Points: 6

_**Harle:  
**_(Serial Dare VI: "Identity Crisis")  
Conditions: Face covered in thick layer of pie (24 hrs)  
Points: 66

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

"So, Crono, what do you think? Do you want to lick off my pie?"

Lucca stared at the princess. "Marle, how can you ask that? It's embarrassing."

"I don't think so. He **is** going to be my husband one day, after all."

Lucca said under her breath, "I don't see what that has to do with it..."

Marle turned back to Crono. "Well?"

He nodded.

Lucca shook her head. "I can't believe you two."

"No kidding." Korcha agreed.

Kid glanced his way, but he didn't notice. _Guess he's not going to offer to clean me off, then._ This disappointed her a little bit- like Marle, she thought it was an interesting idea, and she didn't look forward to spending the day covered in pie. But there was no way she was going to ask him!

Marle walked over to Crono. "Why don't we go do it now? I'd hate to spend any longer messy like this than I have to, and the pie'll be better fresh."

Crono nodded. "Where?" he asked.

"Um... I think I'd prefer somewhere private... We're not likely to find any privacy in the apartments... maybe the dungeon? There shouldn't be anyone in there."

Crono wasn't so hot on the idea of spending too much time in the dungeon, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he just nodded, agreeing with her.

"Alright, come on!"

Bekkler stopped them. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?"

He waved his hand towards Wedge, who was holding several of the ropes their hands had been tied with earlier.

"Oh yeah, that."

o-o-o-o

When Lucca and Robo got back to the Red Room, they found Leena clean, and combing her hair. The door to the bathroom was closed, so Lucca asked, "Who's in there?"

"Serge," Leena answered. "Ayla already washed up. She's in the bedroom, sleeping. And yes, she took off her wet clothes. I was noticing, however, she got quite a bit of pie on her top and scarf. We tried washing them, but some of it wouldn't come out. I'm thinking maybe we should put them in the hamper, and see if the staff can get those stains out."

"I'm sure Ayla'd appreciate them getting the stains out of her clothes- she may not care much about being clean, but looks do still matter to her. However, we'd have to offer her something else to wear- I don't think she'd think to ask, and we don't want her running around half-naked in front of the guys."

"You're telling me."

"So do you want to donate something? I'd offer something of mine, but my clothes would be too small."

"We can try mine, but I have a feeling even my clothes would be tight on her. She is rather well endowed, you know?"

"Yeah, I'd noticed that. I also noticed the guys noticing that." Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Maybe we could see if Kid has any spare shirts. She's probably the only girl here that could rival Ayla in that department."

Leena nodded. "That's an idea. Otherwise, we'll have to borrow a shirt from one of the guys." Changing subjects, Leena asked, "So, what did Bekkler have to tell the Gray team?"

o-o-o-o

Standing with his back to the door, Crono grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door shut. He and Marle walked to the center of the main room of the dungeon. When he'd came in here before, Crono had thought it drab and depressing, a reminder of the time he'd been imprisoned for his alleged kidnapping of Marle. But now, with just him and Marle here, lit only by the torches in the wall, the place actually seemed a bit romantic.

Marle said, her voice soft and warm in the quiet of the dungeon, "I hope you don't mind, but I figured since your aren't washed up yet, I might eat a bit off of you, just to be fair."

Crono didn't trust himself to speak, so, as usual, he simply nodded.

She walked up to him, and gently licked a bit off his chin. Then she ran her tongue up his left cheek, stopping every few inches to gather the pie in her mouth, making it into a kiss. As she began to have trouble reaching higher, he obligingly lowered his head, and she brought her tongue around his eye and across his forehead. Finally, she pulled back, and looked into his eyes.

"Wow," he commented.

"Now it's your turn. Wait, I still have some on my hand, get that first."

He walked around her, and knelt down to get at her hands. Seeing the pie on her right hand, he reached out with his tongue and touched her fingers with the tip of his tongue. She giggled like she was being tickled. He then moved his tongue to her palm, and licked off the pie.

After finishing with the palm, he brought his lips down her fingers, getting more of the pie off of them. Reaching their tips, he opened his mouth up a bit and moved it back up, taking the fingers into his mouth. He then moved his tongue between her fingers, getting every last bit of pie. Finished, he pulled his head back, his lips caressing her fingers as they came out.

Crono stayed kneeling behind her for a few moments, catching his breath. Marle also seemed to be breathing heavily, and it could have just been the light from the torches, but Crono thought her skin seemed a bit flushed.

Finally she turned around, a look of awe in her eyes. "I didn't know it was going to be even more fun to be on the receiving end." She knelt down, face to face with him. "Come on, do some more!"

Crono leaned forward, and began licking the pie off of her cheeks. Then he moved to her forehead, and the loose locks of hair. He was about to move to her nose and lips, when Marle said, "Wait. I should eat some more off of you."

She started from his chin again, this time going up his right cheek. When she got to his forehead, she carefully licked off all the pie there. She then moved back to his cheeks, cleaning them off as well. He was sure the skin she was revealing was a bright red.

She licked off his chin, then instead of moving up as he thought she might, she moved down, getting what pie had reached his neck. It had felt great having her soft, warm tongue run across his forehead and cheeks, but it felt even more exquisite on the sensitive skin of his neck.

Then she pulled away again. "Alright. Your turn. Don't do my lips yet. I want to save that for last. Get the pie on my shoulders and neck."

He nodded, and leaned forward to begin doing as she'd said. He started with her right shoulder, moved in towards her neck, then stopped and moved to her left shoulder. This time he kept going, his tongue caressing her neck. She moaned happily.

Finishing her neck, he began to pull away, but she said, "Don't forget to go down a bit." Not having a problem continuing this, he returned his tongue to her neck, and moved down a bit, getting the pie at the upper edges of her chest. He wasn't sure whether he should move down any further, but she urged him on. "Keep going! I want you to get every bit of pie off me." Crono felt his temperature rise even further. Marle's outfit was rather low cut, and the pie that was splattered on her extended down onto (and under) her outfit. The implications of this were quite exiting.

He pulled his face away from her skin just enough to ask, "You're sure about this?"

She giggled. "Sure. Of course, it is a bit naughty, but I don't mind that if you don't."

"Works fine for me." He gave her skin a kiss, then continued his mouth's trek, down onto the upper area of her left breast. He slowly licked the pie off of it, savoring every moment. Then, as he reached it's inner edge, he reached his tongue down to get at any bits of pie between her breasts.

As he began moving up onto her right breast, she commented, her voice sounding rather dreamy, "I think you missed some."

"Hmm?"

"Between my breasts, I mean."

He lifted his tongue away from her breast and responded, "My tongue is only so long."

"Oh. Then I guess you'll have to pull down my shirt a bit."

So much blood rushed to his head he began to feel weak. "O-okay..."

He moved to the area between her breasts and grabbed the edge of her outfit with his teeth. He then pulled it down. He was only trying to move it an inch or two, but the edge was tight, and once it reached a certain point, her breasts just popped out of it. He stared.

"Uh, I didn't..."

She giggled. "Surprised? It's one of the benefits of being small-breasted – I don't really need a bra, particularly with such baggy clothes."

"If word of what we're doing ever got back to either of our parents, they'd kill us!"

"I won't tell anyone if you don't. Now stop staring and get eating."

"Yes, ma'am."

He moved his face in between her breasts, and began licking up the pie that had fallen there. Finishing, he finally moved his tongue back up to her left breast. Of course they both knew that this had moved far beyond just getting clean, and he didn't stop licking her breast when he'd gotten the pie off of it, but went on to caress her nipple with his mouth.

Then, reluctantly, he pulled his head back to assess the job. She was definitely clean below the neck. Then, his eyes turned to her face, most definitely redder than the torchlight accounted for. They stared into each other's eyes, knowing they were sharing something not just extremely fun (in a naughty sort of way), but also quite special.

Marle said, her voice soft and content, yet strong. "Let's not go any farther than this. I don't want to ruin this by doing something we might regret."

Crono nodded. "History does say we get married, so we can finish this later."

They looked at each other a little bit longer, letting themselves cool off (though that was harder for Crono, with Marle's bare breasts staring at him). Then Marle giggled. "Of course, it will look a bit silly if we walk out of here with pie still around our lips."

Crono said reasonably, "I don't think we'll regret licking the rest of the pie off each-other's faces."

She smiled. "I suppose not, so long as we both keep the rest of our clothes on."

"Of course."

They leaned together, and ran their tongues around each other's lips. Before long, this evolved into a long and messy kiss. Since their arms were tied behind their backs, they couldn't embrace, but they pushed their bodies together as they tumbled to the floor, somehow managing to keep their lips locked in the process.

o-o-o-o

When the Gray team (minus Marle) got back to their apartments, Harle headed straight to bed. Since she slept on her back, her face straight up, she managed not to dirty her pillow.

In the Gray main room, Frog commented, "An interesting challenge. The creators of this game are quite inventive. Alas, I had not trained for such a challenge, as Ayla and Sir Crono have."

Kid rolled her eyes. "Of course you liked that. You don't have to spend the day with pie all over your face."

"True, having such a tongue as mine is useful at times... If thou wouldst like, I could assist thou. Indeed, I would happily assist any of thee clean thine-selves after this contest."

Kid glanced at Korcha, who again missed it. "Maybe later."

Pierre said, "I would rather have pie on my face zen frog slime! At least ze pie is healthy."

"Don't be so sure about that," Kid said dryly.

Frog added, sounding slightly offended, "Actually, the slime of mine tongue has a healing effect."

"Oh. I waz not aware of this. Still, I shall pass."

Korcha nodded. "Same here."

Frog shrugged. "As thee wish."

Korcha sat down. "Now what? We can't spar with Crono cause he's busy with Marle, and Serge and Ayla seem busy at cha moment, too."

Kid pointed out, "Ayla's probably sleeping, just like Harle."

"Right. Even if they weren't busy, though, I'd have a hard time just going back to hanging out with them, after they just beat us like that."

Kid nodded. "Especially considering how we're all messy like this. I don't know about you, but so long as I have pie on my face, I'm going to be a bit uncomfortable in front of the other team."

"Yeah, it's embarrassing," Korcha agreed.

Kid said thoughtfully, "Since both teams have been letting the other team's members hang out in whichever apartments we liked, it was easy to forget that we were two separate teams, and that the other team won the first challenge. But until we can wash the pie off, it'll serve as a visible reminder that we're adversaries."

Frog nodded. "Mayhaps 'tis for the best. If we are to win, we must learn to work together."

Pierre said, "Well, I say we should not allow ze Red team into here until we are able to wash ze pie off. Zey should not see any more of our shame."

Korcha pointed out, "Marle's not going to like it."

Kid said angrily, "Hang what Marle likes. If she wants to spend time with her friends in the Red team, she can go to their room. It's more comfortable in there, anyway."

"Of course it is," Korcha pointed out, "that's why they chose it."

o-o-o-o

Not long after this, there was a knock at the door.

"Marle?" Korcha wondered.

Kid shook her head. "She has a key. Why would she knock?"

"I shall answer it," Frog offered, sparing the others the embarrassment.

It was Serge, come to do some more sparring. Frog told him, "I fear we shall need to find a new place to do our sparring for the time being. The others have decided that only members of the Gray team shall be allowed in the team's rooms for the next twenty-four hours."

"Oh." Serge sounded a bit disappointed. "I suppose we could use the dare room. Or maybe the dungeon..."

"We would have to wait for Marle and Crono to get done with the dungeon before we could use it. I think the dare room would do fine, however. A moment." He turned to his companions, "Dost thee needest me to stay here to answer the door for thee?"

Kid shook her head. "Nah. I'm not gonna hide from the other team just 'cause I got a dirty face. Besides, Marle should be getting back soon."

Frog nodded. "Let us go, Serge."

o-o-o-o

"Do you think this would fit Ayla?" Leena asked Lucca, who was now washed up. Leena was holding up one of her dresses.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Hard to say. Even if it did fit, though, I suspect you'd have a hard time convincing her to wear it. Besides, she's only registered to wear two articles on her torso: her top and her loincloth. If I understand the rules properly, that dress counts as two articles since it covers both one's upper torso and one's legs. If I'm right, that means she wouldn't be able to wear anything under it."

"Hmm. That could be a problem. I guess we should check to see if Kid has anything, then."

Serge and Frog were sparring in the dare room, when Crono and Marle showed up for Wedge to untie their hands. Though there was still some pie left on their clothes, their skin was completely clean. (It did look a bit damp where there had been pie, though.) Serge and Frog noted that Marle's shirt was a bit uneven and wrinkled, but chose not to comment on that.

"Hi, guys!" Marle said cheerfully to them. "What are you doing here?"

"A bit of sparring, my lady."

"Out here? Why aren't you doing it in the Gray Room?"

As Wedge untied Crono and Marle's hands, Frog explained.

"What? How could they make a decision like that without me?"

"I know not. They did not bother to wake Harle either. However, I do not think it an unreasonable request, dost thou?"

Her hands free, she adjusted her shirt. Then she answered, "Well, I suppose not. But still, they could have asked me first."

As Crono and Marle reached the doors to the apartments, Lucca and Leena came out of the Gray room.

"Oh, you two are finally done!" Lucca said.

Marle nodded. "Yeah. So what are you guys up to?"

Leena explained, "Ayla got a bit of pie on her top, so we're trying to see if anyone has something she could wear while we put it into the laundry. We've already figured out that Lucca's and my clothes probably wouldn't fit. We were going to ask Kid if she had any spare shirts for Ayla could borrow."

Crono said, "I'll let you girls worry about that. I'm going to get changed." Not waiting for an answer, he headed into the Red Room.

Marle called out, "Bye!" Then she turned to Lucca and Leena. "You better let me go ask Kid. According to Frog, the rest of my team decided not to let anyone outside the team into the Gray room until they get washed up tomorrow. I guess they're embarrassed about having pie on their faces."

Leena and Lucca looked surprised, but Leena said, "I don't blame them. I would be too."

Lucca added, "Betcha Kid won't admit that was the reason, though."

Marle rolled her eyes. "Well, of course not. She never admits to anything, even when it's obvious."

Lucca looked around, and realized they were alone, except for the guys down in the dare room, who were too far away to hear them. "So, Marle, tell us, what was it like? I mean, having Crono eat the pie off you."

Marle began to blush. "Well, er..."

She began telling them about it, but she didn't tell them exactly how far she and Crono had gone, or how much fun it had been...

o-o-o-o

Leena and Lucca were waiting in the Red Room for Marle to come back, when Crono got out of the bathroom. He had changed his clothes, but they couldn't tell if he'd washed up at all. Lucca looked over the couch at him. "So, Crono, did you like eating the pie off of Marle?"

Crono began to blush.

Lucca patted the couch. "Come on, sit down and tell us about it. Marle told as a little bit, but it seemed like she was holding something back. Why don't you enlighten us?"

Crono blushed even more, and scratched the back of his head. "What are you talking about? Nothing happened. I ate the pie off of her, and that was that."

Leena pointed out, "There wasn't any pie left on your face when you two showed up, so she must have eaten some off of you, too."

Lucca added, "And you can't expect us to believe it took you that long to eat a bit of pie. Not with the speed you guys eat."

"Well, we were full..."

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "You, full? I'll believe that when I see it." She glanced at Leena. "If you want Leena to go into the other room, I'm sure she wouldn't mind. You have to at least tell me, though. I mean, come on, I'm your best friend, right? We share everything!"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say we share **everything**..."

"Oh? Are you saying you've been keeping secrets from me?"

"That's not what I meant," he said hastily.

"Well, then give!"

"Um..."

Just then there was a knock at the door.

Lucca swore under her breath. "Doesn't it always happen that way."

Crono opened the door, and Marle came in. The look that passed between them said far more than either of them had said out loud about what they'd done in the dungeon.

"Well, I'm going to go spar with Frog and Serge," he said.

"Okay. Later, Crono," Marle said.

Crono headed out the door, and Marle came over and sat on the couch, next to Lucca. Lucca noted she'd changed into a clean outfit.

"So I talked with Kid, and she said she didn't have any shirts to spare. She did offer me this to lend to Ayla." Marle held up the top to Kid's red bikini.

Leena and Lucca were taken aback. Leena said, "I'm not sure I want Ayla running around the Red Room wearing that. ...On the other hand, it's not much worse than her normal top, and a lot better than nothing at all."

Marle nodded. "I would offer my clothes, but I only brought three outfits, and two are dirty right now."

Leena was surprised to hear this. "You only brought three outfits? But why? Bekkler allowed us to bring a lot more than that."

Lucca answered for her. "There isn't any storage space to speak of on the Epoch, so we all have to travel light. I don't think any of us brought more than that."

Leena sighed. "Well, I guess it's either Kid's bikini or one of the guy's shirts."

Marle added, "Pierre has enough of a wardrobe, but I don't think we'd be able to convince him to part with any of it."

Lucca said thoughtfully, "Korcha and Robo don't even wear shirts, so that leaves Crono and Serge."

"Crono didn't bring any more clothes than we did, did he?" Marle asked.

"I don't think so."

"So, it's either Serge's shirt, or Kid's bikini top." The three of them looked at each other.

Lucca smiled, and said sarcastically, "Gee, tough choice!"

o-o-o-o

At five, Robo woke up Ayla.

"Why Robo wake Ayla?"

"It is time for supper. Lucca believed you would not wish to miss it."

"Ayla never miss meal!"

As Ayla began putting on her clothes, Robo informed her, "We have been unable to get the stain out of your scarf or top. However, we believe the Funhouse staff will be able to do so. If you wish to put your stained clothes in the hamper to be washed, Serge has offered to let you wear one of his shirts while yours is washed."

Ayla nodded. "Good idea. Laundry taken while we at dare or challenge, right?"

Robo nodded. "Very observant, Miss Ayla."

She pulled on her top. "Ayla wear own clothes until then."

"As you wish."

The red team gathered in the Cafeteria for their first meal as a team. Even Robo sat at the table, though he didn't eat.

As they ate, Lucca commented, "You know, it's amazing, we've been a team for over three days, and we still haven't spent all that much time together. Even when we sleep we're not all in the same room."

Leena responded, "Well, I think us all sharing beds would have been a bit much. Still, I know what you're saying."

When the silence began to lengthen after this, Serge spoke up. "I guess we just don't have enough in common."

Ayla said fiercely, "Serge, Crono and Ayla have things in common. All fight. Robo and Lucca fight too. Should join us."

Lucca said, "Well, er, I wouldn't want to alienate Leena..."

Leena said defensively, "I can fight too, you know!"

Lucca was shocked, and most of the others (except Serge) were surprised as well. Lucca said, "You can? You never said anything."

"Well, it isn't one of my favorite pastimes. But I can do it, if I need too. I always felt a girl shouldn't have to rely on a guy to protect her. Especially since her guy sometimes spends half the day sleeping and might still be in bed when he's needed." She shot a glance Serge's way, and he smiled sheepishly.

Lucca nodded. "Personally, I'd rather build a weapon then use it, but it never hurts to be prepared."

"Whole team should fight together," Ayla said, "Help us learn work as team."

Lucca sighed. "I guess it is the only thing we're likely to do together."

o-o-o-o

That night, as the Gray team was getting ready for bed, Kid told Frog, "Well, I don't want to get pie on my pillow (or on my nightgown when I put it on), so I guess you should lick off my face.

"Very well, let us go inform which-ever of Bekkler's helpers is on watch."

"Wait!" Korcha said.

Kid glanced at him. "Yes?"

"Well, if you want a little bit less slimy job, I'd be willing to do it for you."

"Oh, really?" She managed not to smile at this, but it was a challenge. _I thought he'd never ask!_

o-o-o-o

"Korcha is going to clean my face off," Kid told Wedge as she and Korcha arrived at the Dare room.

"Okay. Do you want your hands tied, or do you want to have me watch?"

Kid looked at Korcha. "I don't think we need privacy, do you?"

"Well, I guess not."

Wedge told them, "All right, then go ahead. Just don't use your hands."

Kid went over to the Dare Wheel and sat down on it's edge. "Whenever you're ready, Korcha."

He gulped, and walked over to her. He leaned forward and began eating the pie off her face. She sat there, her face impassive, as if having him running his tongue and lips over her face was neither embarrassing nor exiting. He didn't know how she managed it—he found it both.

Finally, he finished and stepped back.

"You forgot the pie that got in my hair," she commented, flicking the hair to her front so he could get at it.

Korcha grumbled and leaned back over and began sucking on her hair.

When he was done, he straitened up again, and asked, "Any thing more?"

"No, that should do." She stood up. "You know, it's funny, I thought that might be a bit degrading, actually, it wasn't that bad."

"Speak for yourself. I think that woulda been embarrassing even if we didn't have someone watching."

"Well, we'd better get to bed." She began walking away from the wheel.

"Hold on, a sec, Kid..." Korcha said.

She looked over her shoulder at him. "Yes?"

"Er, I cleaned off your face, so I was thinking maybe you could do the same for me?"

"You were just saying you found licking the pie off of me was embarrassing, and now you want me to the same thing? Are you saying you want me to embarrass myself?"

"Don't twist my words. I just want things fair. I helped you, so you help me."

"Okay, fine."

Korcha sat down on the Wheel, and Kid came over to do her part. Instead of bending over to get at his face, she climbed partially on top of him, with her left leg in a kneeling position on his lap. When she shifted her weight to this leg, it put her head above Korcha's, so she told him impatiently, "Well, look up!"

He turned his face up to look at her, and she began licking the pie off him in a business-like fashion.

After a little while, she stopped and got off him. "There, satisfied?"

Korcha lowered his face to look at her again, and scowled at her, complaining, "I thought you said being on the receiving side wasn't degrading."

She smiled. "I lied." And with that she turned and ran down the hall.

Korcha watched her run off, in shock, then grumbled, "Why is she always playing games with me?"

Wedge says reasonably, "Probably because she likes you."

"You think?" Korcha sounded dubious.

"Well sure. Why would she go through the trouble if she didn't?"

Korcha said thoughtfully, "You might have a point there. I hope you're right."

o-o-o-o

When Korcha got back, Kid was already in the bathroom area getting changed.

(Since the bathroom area was open, they usually used the shower stall or toilet stall to change in. However, the shower stall didn't have any good spots to lay clothes without getting them wet, and the toilet stall was cramped, so the braver members of the team sometimes simply changed in the bathroom area itself. For this reason, the team had an informal rule that whenever anyone was getting changed or getting in or out of the shower, no one was to go within sight of the bathroom area.)

Marle and Frog had already removed the clothes they didn't wear to bed. (Being on her last clean outfit, Marle didn't have anything to change to, so she was wearing the same outfit she'd changed into after getting cleaned up earlier. Frog on the other hand, was wearing clean pants.) Pierre had removed his boots and jacket, but lamented that he wouldn't be able to change into his nightclothes, since his shirt must go over his head, and he dare not do that while his face remained messy.

Frog offered again to clean it for him, but once more he declined.

Finally, they all headed to bed.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

_**Day Five**_

In the morning, Harle was up before everyone else, and again provided breakfast in bed to all in the Gray Room who were interested.

Since all who were up at this point were clean-faced, except Harle (who didn't seem embarrassed at all by her "pie-mask"), they considered ending their exclusive use of the room early, but decided against it.

"Pierre is still part of our team, and we have to stick together," Marle summarized.

o-o-o-o

In the Red Room, Leena, Lucca, Ayla, went to eat breakfast at eight. Crono and Serge, however, couldn't bring themselves to get out of bed. Robo stayed behind to make sure they got up before it was too late to have breakfast in the cafeteria.

By time the guys got to the cafeteria, the girls were done eating and were sitting around talking. As usual, the guys didn't have much to add to the girls' conversations.

o-o-o-o

After they finished eating, Ayla and the guys decided to do a bit of sparring. With a bit of cajoling, they convinced Leena and Lucca to join them, along with Robo. Since they couldn't use the Gray Room, they decided to do their sparring in the dare room.

Leena used her frying pan to fight, while Lucca set her gun to a non-lethal setting.

o-o-o-o

When the Gray team began to head their separate ways in the morning, Marle and Kid were a bit annoyed to find that Lucca and Leena were busy fighting. Rather than join them, Marle and Kid headed back to the Gray Room. Korcha and Frog joined the sparring session, but Korcha felt out of place, and didn't like leaving Kid to her own devices when he felt they- might- be starting to build some chemistry.

Before long, he also headed back to the Gray Room.

When the fighting was over, Ayla commented that she was not impressed with Leena's fighting skills. Ayla was a bit less harsh on Lucca, but still pointed out that her close-range combat skills were severely lacking.

Eventually it was decided Ayla would expand her unarmed-combat training to the rest of the team. Ayla offered to train Frog as well, but he declined.

"I mean thou no offense, Ayla, but in mine time fighting without a weapon is considered uncouth. Besides, mine sword hath always served me well. I see no need to learn other forms of combat."

Lucca shrugged. "Just as well. We were looking for something we could do as a team, anyway."

Frog took his leave of them and headed back to the Gray room. Meanwhile, looking for a bit more privacy, the Red Team headed to the main room of the dungeon to practice. (It wasn't as big as the main room of the Gray Room, but was bigger than the Red Room's main room, and had no furniture to get in the way.)

o-o-o-o

When Pierre got up, he discovered to his dismay he had been unable to keep his pillow clean. In fact so much pie had come off his face, he would have to get more. Taking advantage of this, he washed off and changed.

Then he went to the supply room to replace the pie (much to his regret). One of the staff was a teenage boy they hadn't seen before, named Anar. When Pierre told him why he was there, Anar obligingly slapped a banana cream pie in his face.

Pierre sighed. "This game can't end soon enough for moi."

o-o-o-o

By noon, the Red Team was relaxing in their room. When they realized it was time for lunch, they all decided to head to the cafeteria.

Before they left, Ayla said to Serge, "Robo say Serge give Ayla shirt to wear while Ayla's being washed."

"Er, yeah, Leena did mention something about that."

"Funhouse people might come while we eat. Ayla put shirt in 'hamper' now."

"Alright. I'll get you one of mine. Hold on a sec." He went into the bedroom and pulled a black T-shirt out of the draw. Ayla had followed him in, so he handed it to her. "Here."

Ayla took off her scarf, then began to pull off her top. In panic, Serge quickly looked away.

"Serge can look now," Ayla said. Serge slowly turned to her, and saw with relief that she was now wearing his T-shirt. Ayla smiled at him. "Serge have strong will, no look at Ayla. Must really love Leena."

Serge smiled back. "Yeah, I do."

"Ayla no show off in front of Serge anymore."

"Thanks."

"Ayla try get Leena show off for Serge instead." And with that, she hurried out.

"No, wait, Ayla! I don't need your help!"

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, Vicks showed up at the Gray Room, and told the Gray team they could wash up now. Pierre and Harle were the first to take advantage of this, but all the others felt the need to wash up as well, and did so as soon as the sink or shower was open.

o-o-o-o

At One, Vicks and Piette came around to tell the teams to gather for the Bonus Dare.

Seeing Ayla in Serge's shirt, Marle asked, "What's with the shirt, Ayla?"

"Ayla put dirty clothes in hamper. Others tell Ayla floating head's helpers can clean clothes better."

"They should be able to. But I still don't get why you're wearing that shirt. It can't be yours..."

"Belong to Serge."

"I thought so. Why not just wear another of yours?"

"Ayla no have other clothes."

"Oh, yeah, now that you mention it, I remember Lucca mentioning that. You didn't think to bring a change of clothes with you?"

Ayla shrugged. "Ayla can not bring what Ayla does not have."

Marle's eyes widened. "You mean, you don't have any other clothes **at all**?" She shuddered. "I'm glad I don't live in the Stone Age."

Soon Bekkler arrived. "Welcome to the Round One Bonus Dare. Here's you chance to win up to six points!

"Now, I'll need one representative from each team to spin the Dare Wheel to determine the category of dare for your team. Harle, Ayla, since you two were your teams' winners in the Preliminary Individual Challenge, why don't you come spin the wheel for your teams?" They went up to the Dare Wheel.

Ayla spun a six: "Role-Playing." Then Harle spun. She got a three: "Messy Stuff."

"Oh, just beautiful," Kid commented.

"Not again!" Pierre said in dismay.

Bekkler announced, "Red team, your dare will be from the Role-Playing category, and Gray team, your dares will all be from the Messy Stuff category. Now, you must each bet on whether you think you shall be willing to perform your dare." He handed out pens and pads of paper to everyone. "You may bet one to six points. If you accept and complete the dare, you'll receive the number of points you bet. If you refuse or fail, you'll loose that many points. Leena, as you have nothing to loose, you're automatically entered as betting six points. Robo and Harle, you don't need to bet either, as you've already received the points for the dares you will be asked to perform.

"Keep in mind, Red team, if all of you perform your dare, your team gets an extra twelve points. Now, I'll give you a minute to think about your bet. Once you've decided, write it down on the pads I gave you."

Ayla spoke up. "Ayla not know how write."

Bekkler blinked. Then, after a pause, "You do know how to count, don't you?"

"Of course Ayla can count!"

"Then put that many dots or lines on the page."

She nodded. "Okay."

They all thought about their bets, and wrote them down.

"Have you all made your bets? Good. Now, Ayla, please spin the wheel to determine your team's dare."

She spun a four. The chalkboard asked, "A or B?" Ayla spun the dial and got an "a". The chalk wrote: "VI 4a: famous person."

"So, all of red team except Robo will be asked to act like famous people from history or the present.

"Normally, all members of the winning team would be asked to perform the exact same dare; however, having a bunch of people all trying to act like the same person would be a little too much, even for the Funhouse. Instead, you'll all be dared to act like different famous people." He pulled out a deck of cards. "If you'd all come up and pick a card, to determine whom you will each have to imitate?"

Crono picked first, and got "Magus."

Lucca commented, "Well, at least he's got the strong-silent-type part down pat." She picked a card, and got "General Viper."

"Oh, great. I happen to get someone I know hardly anything about."

Ayla went next, and got, "Melchior."

"This not good," she said.

Serge picked the dancer Miki, and Leena picked the reptite Azala.

Leena rolled her eyes. "Just great. Serge acts like a female exotic dancer, and I'm supposed to act like `Azala'. Who is Azala? I thought these were supposed to be famous people."

Ayla explained, "Azala ruler of reptites in Ayla's time. Very bad- try kill all humans, so reptites rule earth alone."

"You mean I'm supposed to be a bad-guy from pre-history?"

Bekkler asked them all if they were willing to perform these dares. Though many of them had little idea what the person they were supposed to impersonate was like, they all decided to give it a try. "Very well. You shall act like those characters until just before the challenge tomorrow. Then, all of you in both teams will judge the performance of each role-player. I shall also vote, based on what the various members of my staff report. If you get over fifty-percent approval, you get your points. If you get lower than that, you loose the bet. In the event of a tie, I'll call in Chronos to cast the deciding vote. Now, if you'll reveal your bets?" The red team revealed their bets, and the scoreboard was updated accordingly. (Crono bet four, Lucca three, Ayla six, and Serge two. Leena automatically gained six points, as she had had none.)

Then Robo spun for the body part to be turned to plastic. He got a "1": head.

"Do you accept?"

"Affirmative."

"All right. Now, it's Gray team's turn. If you recall, you'll all perform individual dares. Frog, if you'd spin first?"

He got a queen. "It looks like you'll have to do two messy dares to get the points you bet. Spin again."

His second spin was a ten. This was an "A or B" dare, so Frog spun the red-and white dial, and got white, or "A." The result: "Don't tend hair or shave."

Bekkler noted, "Since you don't have hair, that's invalid." Looking it up in his papers, he found, "Ten B also involves hair, so spin again."

Now he got a three-C: "Wet body, then roll in sand."

Bekkler told him, "This will be a one time thing, but to make it a little more interesting, you won't be allowed to wash off afterwards for twenty-four hours, except your hands before meals. And since this isn't food, you won't be able to eat it to get it off. We won't worry about accidental brush off, but if we discover you've brushed or wiped it off on purpose, you'll loose the dare. In a tough call, we may also choose to dock a certain amount of your reward, rather than making you loose the entire thing.

"Now, you should spin for the second of your dares."

Frog spun a four: "Cover skin below neck in messy substance." Bekkler had him pick a card to determine the substance. He got "honey".

Bekkler told him, "As this is a food item, we'll only ask you to wear it for twenty-four hours- any messy substance is going to have to be re-applied many times, and we don't want to waste **too **much food. However, as with the pie, if a significant amount comes off before the twenty-four hours is over, we'll expect you to report to the supply room to have it replaced. Now, if you'd reveal your bet?"

Frog had bet four points. "So, for four points, will you cover your skin (under your clothes) in honey, and, wet, roll in sand?"

"'Tis a most unusual request, but I suppose, 'tis the nature of this game. I accept."

His points rose to ten.

Marle spun next, and got 8: "Replace an article of clothing with a messy substance."

Her eyebrow raised, and she said, with a trace of nervousness, "This should be interesting."

Bekkler had her pick cards from two decks. She got "left sock" and "liquid latex".

Bekkler said, "Now, according to my records, we put your bracelets in the spot for left sock. This means that if you accept, you'll give us your bracelets for the remainder of the game, and we'll replace them with latex."

"Latex? What's that?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses and said, "Rubber."

Bekkler expanded upon this. "_**Liquid **_latex is rubber that has not yet solidified. It can be stored indefinitely in this state, and if treated properly, will quickly dry into a strong rubber when applied to another surface. Our latex is non-toxic, and will reach a semi-dry state within several minutes of application, forming a sort of rubber second-skin."

Marle's jaw dropped. "That's… different," she said uncertainly.

Bekkler smiled. "I suppose, from you're perspective it would be. It all depends on what circles you travel in… -Now, if you'd reveal your bet?"

She'd bet four points. "For four points, will you replace your bracelets with latex?" Bekkler asked.

She looked at her bracelets. "I don't know..."

"If you accept, your points will go up to ten, if you refuse they'll drop to two. It's your choice."

"Oh, what the heck. I wanted to enter this game to get to do some crazy things. I dare."

Her points rose to ten.

Bekkler called up Korcha next.

Korcha spun a seven: "Take a messy bath." He then picked out the card "Mud". When asked to reveal his bet, it was a three.

"So, for three points, will you take a mud bath? You can wash off afterwards."

"Not the sorta thing I'd choose to do on my own, but I don't got a problem with it. I dare." His points rose to nine.

Kid was next, and spun a two: "Cover face with substance." The card she picked said, "clay".

"So, we would apply clay to your face, and you'd have to keep it there for the rest of the game."

"I don't think so. I don't have a problem with being messy, but I'm not gonna make a fool of myself this early in the game."

"Very well then. Your bet?" It was three, so her points dropped to three.

Pierre spun an eight- replace article of clothing with messy substance. Pierre didn't even bother finding out what substance it would be. He refused. As he'd only bet one point, his points merely dropped to five.

Finally, Harle spun for her identity crisis. She got an eight A: "Act as if have amnesia."

"So, from now until the next Bonus Dare, you must act as if you had amnesia, Harle."

Harle blinked. "Harle? Who is Harle?"

* * *

NEXT: Red team does some role-playing, and Gray team gets messy! And then comes the round one individual challenge! Will someone be forced to leave the Funhouse?

Find out in the next outrageous episode of the Funhouse!


	7. Episode Six Part One

**Crono Crossover: The Funhouse**

**Episode Six Part One  
Round One, Part Two**

Previously: Loosing the Pie Eating contest, Gray team had to deal with having pie on their faces for a day. Meanwhile, Ayla began teaching Red team the art of unarmed combat (cave-man style). Finally, in the Bonus Dare game, Red team was dared to act like various famous people from history and the present, and Gray team was dared to get messy again. Will all the players who accepted their dares be able to perform them?

* * *

Character Scoreboard:

**Red Team: **

**Crono**:  
Conditions: act like Magus (24 hours)  
Points: 6+4?

**Lucca**:  
Conditions: act like General Viper (24 hours)  
Points: 6+3?

**Robo**:  
(Serial Dare X: "Metamorphosis" into action figure.)  
Conditions: Head plastic  
Points: 66

**Ayla**:  
Conditions: act like Melchior (24 hours)  
Points: 6+6?

**Serge**:  
Conditions: act like Miki (24 hours)  
Points: 6+2?

**Leena**:  
Condition: act like Azala (24 hours)  
Points: 0+6?

.

**Gray Team**:

**Frog**:  
Conditions: honey on skin (24 hours), roll in sand (wet, 24 hours)  
Points: 10

**Marle**:  
Condition: latex bracelets  
Points: 10

**Korcha**:  
Points: 9

**Kid:**  
Points: 3

**Pierre:**  
Points: 5

**Harle:**  
(Serial Dare VI: "Identity Crisis")  
Conditions: act as if had amnesia (until next bonus)  
Points: 66

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

**Day Five **(continued)

Bekkler clapped his hands, and several sheets of paper appeared. He handed them out to the Red team. "These papers will tell you a bit about the people you are supposed to act like, in case you're not entirely familiar with them. Vicks, could you read Melchior's bio to Ayla?"

Lucca shook her head in despair. "A Melchior that can't read and speaks in broken grammar? This is never going to work."

Bekkler then looked at Robo. "Are you ready to begin your dare?"

"Affirmative."

Bekkler waved his hands around in a series of strange gestures. Then a puff of smoke engulfed Robo's head. When it cleared, Robo's head appeared to be made out of plastic.

"Weird," Marle commented.

Lucca asked, "How do you feel?"

"All systems continue to function within acceptable parameters."

"Well, that's good to hear."

Bekkler now turned to the Gray team. "Marle, Frog, if you'd proceed to the supply room, the staff will help you start your dares. Korcha, you don't need to perform your dare immediately, so long as you do it before one PM tomorrow. Keep in mind, it'll take my staff a little while to prepare your mud bath, so let them know at least an hour before you plan on taking it."

"Okay."

"As for the rest of you, you can begin your dares as soon as you like, but you don't need to begin until Marle and Frog return. Red team, it would be a good idea to take that time to study your bios and think about how you want to act."

Marle and Frog headed to the Supply room.

They were greeted by the woman in the red blouse, the young man named Anar, and another young man. The woman bowed in greeting. "Hello, I'm Marian, head of Supplies. These are my assistants, Anar and Reton. How may we help you?"

Anar asked, "Why are you asking them? Bekkler already sent word of their dares."

"I was just being polite."

Reton said dubiously, "I don't know. If I was in their position, I would find it a bit embarrassing, having to tell someone I was planning to do this or that dare. I mean, some of these dares are pretty crazy."

Anar said knowingly, "I get it. You're trying to make these dares as embarrassing as possible for them."

Marian blushed. "I am not." She quickly turned to Marle and Frog. "Marle, if you come with me, I'll help you start your dare, unless you'd prefer one of my assistants."

"Er, you'll do."

"Anar, Reton, see to Frog's dares."

"Yes ma'am."

Marian led Marle to a secluded part of the room (shelves and boxes blocked the view from where Frog and the assistants were).

"Now, you may want to shave your arms first—it'll make taking the latex off later easier."

"Shave my arms? But my arms aren't hairy!"

"I know, but even the slightest hair could make removal a painful process."

"Oh... alright… I guess."

"Of course, on the other hand, some people **like** that…"

"Like what? The pain? No way, not me. You got a razor handy?"

She did, in fact, as well as shaving cream. Heading over to a nearby sink, Marle took off her bracelets, and shaved her arms. Then Marian made sure they were completely dry, and rubbed some oil onto the areas where the latex was going to go. "This will also help with the removal process."

Now Marian took out a can of latex, and opened it. It was filled with a thick black liquid.

"I didn't know it was going to be black…"

"Well, it does come in a variety of colors, but all we have right now is black."

"Oh. Well, let's get started…"

Taking a foam paintbrush, Marian began painting the latex onto Marle's wrists and right arm, using the bracelets as a guide to how wide to go. As she painted, she told Marle, "This will take a few minutes to dry, then it'll become tacky. I'm going to give you the can, as you'll need to add a few more layers to give it some strength. Then you should come back here, and I'll see if it's thick enough. If it is, we can apply a special finishing coat, that'll dry smooth."

"How long is this all going to take?"

"You mean, until the finishing coat is dry? Probably a half-an-hour or so…"

"And how long will the latex last?"

"Indefinitely. If they come out properly, you shouldn't have to re-apply the latex—even if you have to take them off at some point, you can put them back on later, just like any other clothing."

"Well, that's good to know…"

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, Anar went to get the sand ready, while Reton got out the honey.

"Alright, Frog, you'll have to take off your clothes, so I can apply the honey. Oh, and if there's any problem with me doing it, you can do it yourself, or we can get someone else. We just need someone to verify that the honey was applied to your entire body below the neck."

"I believe thee shalt be fine." Frog said. He pulled off his clothes. Reton raised an eyebrow in surprise at what he saw. He hadn't realized Frog was so frog-like as to lack external genitals! Reton was polite enough not to say anything.

Reton opened several jars of honey, and working together, they spread it over Frog's body. When Frog's body was shiny and golden, and dripping with honey, Reton helped him struggle back into his clothes. The clothes ended up wrinkled horribly, as much of the cloth stuck to the honey.

Reton then led Frog to the sandbox Anar had set up. Anar had also gotten out a pail of water. When they arrived, Anar lifted up the pail and moved towards Frog with it.

Reton asked urgently, "What are you doing, Anar?"

"I'm going to pour this water on him, so he'll be wet like the dare says."

"If you do that, the honey might get washed off."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"We'll have to take a sponge and dribble the water on him."

"What? That's way to much work."

"If we have to do all of this over again, we'll have twice the work."

Anar scowled, and set down the pail. "Fine. I'll go get some sponges." He walked off grumbling.

When he got back, they dribbled water over Frog's body, getting his clothes wet, but not so much that too much made it through to the honey. (As his armor wouldn't absorb water, they instead ran the dripping wet sponges over its surface. They didn't even bother dampening his bare arms, since that would only have thinned the honey on them.) They also poured water over his head, getting it quite wet.

"Alright, time for your sand-bath," Anar told him.

Frog nodded, and walked over to the sandbox. He paused a moment, then stepped onto it and lied down. He then rolled around in it quickly, covering his wet clothes and honey-coated arms in sand. Finally he sat up and poured sand over his head for good measure.

Anar laughed at Frog, until Reton shot him a dirty look. Even then, Anar couldn't keep from snickering.

Ignoring Anar's reaction, Frog stood up and walked toward them. Despite being covered in sand, Frog managed a noble air, as if there were nothing absurd about the situation. He bowed to them. "Thank thee for the assistance. I shalt be going now." He walked back towards the door.

o-o-o-o

Marle was waiting for Frog at the door. Frog glanced at Marle's latex bracelets, and Marle stared at the sand-covered Frog. They both chose not to comment on the other's appearance. Instead, Marle said, "Let's go."

When they got back, the other players all had to fight to hold back their laughter at Frog's appearance. Not all were entirely successful. (Marle's appearance wasn't such a big deal. It just looked like she'd switched her normal bracelets for wet, black ones- which was pretty close to the truth.)

Harle commented, "My goodness! What a dirty frog!"

Kid shot at her, "He's your team-mate, so don't insult him."

Harle said innocently, "I am on a team with a frog? How strange."

Kid rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile, Marle tested her latex "bracelets", and finding them tacky rather than wet, got Crono's assistance in applying the second layer.

Crono had just finished, when Bekkler announced, "Alright, role-players. Time to start your dares!"

Crono nodded.

Ayla said, "Ayla is wise-man, Melchior, now."

Serge, assuming his role, looked down at himself. "My, these clothes just aren't my style."

Leena raised her hand. "Um, Mister Bekkler? Azala is from Ayla's time. That doesn't mean I'll have to talk like her, does it?"

It wasn't Bekkler that answered the question- it was Ayla. In a voice that was a reasonable imitation of Melchior's, at least in tone, she said, "Do not worry, dear. Reptites talked more like people of this era than like Ayla's people."

Ayla put her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "One thing to keep in mind - Azala thought humans were only apes, and treated them like rats... Leena... You want to act like Azala, you should do same."

Everyone stared at Ayla - her speech hadn't exactly been up to Melchior's standards, but considering how she normally talked, it was quite impressive.

Noticing everyone's stares, Ayla did her best to hide a smirk, and raised an eyebrow. "What? Something wrong?"

Lucca admitted, "That's... a lot better than I thought you'd be able to manage..."

Ayla shrugged. "I have traveled with you a long time now... I have picked up a few words..."

"But then what happened in our last dare?"

"Lucca... You think it easy learn to talk like you?"

"Well... I guess I hadn't thought about that..."

Leena walked over to Ayla. "Ayla- I mean, Melchior,- I think I'm going to need to pick your brains in order to perform this dare properly." She assumed a haughty expression. "As for the rest of you filthy apes, ...well, go jump off a cliff for all I care." She grabbed Ayla by Serge's shirt and dragged her down the hall to the Red Room.

Most of the Gray team smiled at this.

Crono said dryly, "Amusing."

Lucca watched them go. Trying to imitate a man's voice, she said, "Perhaps we should attempt to rescue... Melchior... from that reptilian demi-human."

Crono shrugged, and said coldly, "Why bother? He's just an old man. Besides, so long as the old coot talks, Azala shouldn't do anything too drastic to him. At least not for now."

Lucca turned to the others. "Still, it's my responsibility to protect him. Will any of you assist me?"

Marle raised her hand. "I will! ...Er, but maybe I should wait until this latex dries. I don't want to get it all over the place."

Serge said, "Well, maybe after I get some proper clothes."

Robo warned, "For the sake of the team, it would be wise to allow Ayla to fully inform Leena as to her role, Lucca."

Lucca said reasonably, "Well, it will take a little while to plan our attack on Azala. Oh, and my name isn't Lucca, it's Viper, remember?" She turned to Robo. "How about you? Will you assist me?"

Robo paused. "Processing... I am sorry, General Viper, but I am afraid I can not take sides in this matter."

Marle couldn't help but giggle at all this.

Bekkler told them, "Well, you seem to have the general idea. I have other things to do, so I'll see you tomorrow at one. Goodbye." He cackled and floated away.

Kid turned to Korcha. "So, when 're ya goin' ta take yer mud-bath?"

"I dunno. Why? Want cha join me?"

"Me, play in the mud? Don't be insultin'. I just thought it might be amusin' ta see ya imitate a pig, that's all."

Korcha let that last comment slide. "What, are ya afraid to get cha-self dirty?"

"Me, afraid of a little dirt? Now yer bein' ridiculous. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna get messy fer no good reason, either."

Just then, Lucca walked over to the Gray team. "Might I enlist any of you to the cause of rescuing Melchior?"

Kid turned to her and smiled. "I don't think so. This sounds like a Red team concern, to me."

Crono, standing coolly against a wall, added, "That's right. Leave these fools to their own amusements, Schala. You and I have some catching up to do."

Kid stared at him in confusion for a second before her eyes widened. "Oh, right!" She shook her head. "I was trying to say I don't want to get involved in any of the role-playing dares..." After a moment's thought, she said, "On the other hand, this might make good practice..." She shrugged. "Okay, fine. Whenever you're ready, Janus."

Korcha looked at her strangely. "Janus? Who's Janus? Crono's supposed ta be Magus. Ya' know, the evil wizard who tried cha conquer Guardia centuries ago?"

Kid explained, "Magus's true name was Janus."

"How cha know that? And what did he mean cha had catching up to do?"

"It's a long story, but to cut it short, Janus was my brother."

"He what?"

Kid walked up to Crono. "Come on, Janus, let's find somewhere private to talk."

"Wait!" Serge said.

Kid turned to him. "What is it, Serge? I mean, Miki."

"Well, I need some clothes a little bit more my style, and I think you're the only one in here that might have any. Do you think I might borrow one of your skirts?"

Kid couldn't suppress a short laugh. "I didn't bring too much for clothes, but for you, I'm sure we can work something out." She turned to Crono. "Do you mind waiting a little bit?"

He shrugged. "I'll be here."

Kid and Serge headed to the Gray Room, followed by a curious and annoyed Korcha.

When they entered the Gray Room, Kid led Serge to the bedroom. Korcha started to follow them, but Kid stopped him. "Sorry, you can't come in. This is girl stuff."

"Girl stuff? But he's..."

She winked at him, and mouthed, "Play along." She then closed the door on him.

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, Lucca implored the others, "Won't any more of you help me in my quest? A man's life may hang in the balance." Looking first at Frog, then as Pierre, she said, "I could really use the help of some heroes."

Pierre looked at her disdainfully. "I will have no part in such a foolish game." He walked off towards the Gray Room.

Marle turned to Frog. "Won't you at least help us?"

He winced. "Pierre may have had the right of this. 'Tis not our dare, and 'tis somewhat demeaning to pretend to be that which I already am."

"Aww, come on, this is fun!"

He sighed. "I suppose 'tis no worse than being covered in sand and honey." He turned to Lucca. "Very well, General Viper. Let us plan a way to rescue the wise and noble Melchior."

"Thank you, Frog!" Marle said. She rushed forward to hug him, but he backed away, his hands out to stop her.

"I think now would not be the best time for an embrace, my lady."

She stopped. "Huh?" She glanced at the honey and sand covering him, and then down at her own arms. "Oh, right." She blushed and giggled. "Silly me. I guess I forgot the other team wasn't the only one doing dares! …Speaking of which…" She tested the bracelets, and decided it was time for another application. As she painted on the third layer herself, she asked Harle, "What about you, Harle? Will you help us rescue Melchior?"

Harle blinked. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes, I'm talking to you."

"So, zen, Harle must be my name, yes?"

Marle rolled her eyes.

o-o-o-o

Pierre and Korcha were sitting in the Gray main room, when Kid and Serge came out of the bedroom. Pierre jumped in shock, seeing what Serge wore. "My god, I have moved into a house full of crazy people!"

Serge was, as was to be expected, wearing one of Kid's skirts, instead of his shorts. He was also, however, wearing Kid's bikini top (which Lucca and Leena had returned to Kid when they decided not to give it to Ayla).

Korcha snickered. It was refreshing to see Kid make a fool of someone else for a change.

Seeing Pierre and Korcha's looks, Serge began to blush a bit. Still, he managed to maintain a cheerful voice as he said, "Thanks, Kid. I really appreciate this."

As he made to walk away, Kid grabbed Serge by the arm. "Wait, you can't go out there yet. You still have to put on your makeup!"

Serge apparently hadn't thought of this. "My... Oh, right. Of course." He gave a false smile.

Kid pulled him towards the bathroom area. "Come on, Miki, you want to look your best, don't you?"

o-o-o-o

Lucca and Frog were busy working on a battle plan in the dare room, when Kid and Serge returned, followed by Korcha.

Everyone stared at Serge, and again some couldn't contain their snickering. In fact, Marle, who had been having giggling fits ever since the role-playing had begun, now began to laugh so hard, she had to clutch at her sides.

Frog warned her, "My lady, I fear you are making a mess of thyself."

"Huh?" Calming down a little bit, (but still giggling), she looked down at herself, and saw that she'd touched her arms to her clothes. She quickly pulled her arms away, but they left a little bit of wet latex stuck on her clothes.

Marle commented, between giggles, "I hope this stuff doesn't stain."

Serge asked, "So, what do you think? I know the boots don't really go with the rest of the outfit, but there weren't any sandals my size in the Gray Room."

Marle, holding her arms out to the sides to avoid touching herself again, said, "It's really good, Miki."

Harle looked confused. "I do not understand. You dress like a woman, but you look like a man. Which are you?"

Serge answered, "I'm a woman, of course," at the same time Marle answered, "He's really a boy."

Harle looked back and forth between them. "Ah, I see."

Korcha walked up to Kid and told her, "I guess I might as well get my dare over with. I'm goin' cha tell the supply room guys to get it ready."

"Okay. Tell me when it's ready, and maybe I'll keep ya company."

"In or out of the mud?" he asked with a smile.

"I already told ya, out. If ya need company in the mud, invite Frog. He don't seem to mind gettin' dirty."

"Nah, I don't need any company. But why should I even let ya come watch if ya ain't even gonna get dirty? I don't enjoy bein' some sort a spectacle, ya know?"

"Well, maybe, if yer real polite, I might stick my fingers in, or something."

Korcha gave her a wide smile. "I suppose that would be better than nothing." He headed to the supply room, leaving Kid wondering what the smile had been about.

_I didn't get the impression Korcha was the sort to be turned on by dirt... Maybe he thought of that as a victory- I probably gave in too easily... Or, he could be up to something..._ She smiled.

Spotting Crono still leaning against the wall, she headed over to him. "So, Janus, let's go talk."

Marle watched them go. She trusted Crono, and he and Kid were pretending to be brother and sister, but still, Marle couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable with them being together alone. She wished she at least had someone to talk to about it. But Lucca, Leena, and Ayla were all role-playing right now, and there really wasn't anyone else she'd feel comfortable talking about this sort of thing with.

Oh, well. She'd just have to trust them. In the meantime, she had a "rescue" to help with. But first…

Marle checked her bracelets. They were almost dry again, and she thought they were thick enough. "I'll be right back," she told the others.

o-o-o-o

Korcha headed back to the Gray room and sat down at the table. Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone to talk to or spar with there besides Pierre.

o-o-o-o

"Yup, I'd say that's plenty thick," Marian confirmed.

As Marian applied the finishing solution, Marle asked, "By the way, how hard is it to get this stuff out of clothing?"

"How hard? Once it's dried, it's impossible."

"What? Impossible?"

"That's what I was told."

"**Now** you tell me…"

o-o-o-o

Not long after Marle had returned to the Dare room…

Serge unlocked the door to the Red room, and Frog stuck his head in.

"I see nothing."

Serge looked in, and not seeing anything either, waved the others to follow. Frog and Serge sneaked in, followed by Marle, Harle, and Lucca. Marle moved to the open bathroom door, and sneaked a look inside. It was dark, and unoccupied.

"They must be in the bedroom," she whispered to the others.

Lucca nodded, and signaled for them all to move to the bedroom door.

At the door, they could hear Ayla talking to Leena.

Lucca nodded. Frog opened the door, and they all burst through, weapons drawn.

Everyone stopped and stared. It turned out, Serge was not the only one who had decided to change clothes to play their role. Ayla was wearing one of Leena's dresses, a dark blue one that vaguely resembled Melchior's robes (she wore her own boots with it). She had also tied some of her hair under her nose like a mustache. Marle giggled at this.

More shocking than Ayla wearing a dress, however, was what Ayla had apparently convinced Leena to wear. Leena wore her torso-covering bathing suit, and had a bed-sheet tied around her neck like a cape.

Leena and Serge just stared at each other.

Harle said, "I did not know we were fighting against a super-hero."

Marle told her, "She isn't a super-hero. She's Azala, King the Reptites." Marle frowned. "...Or 'he' is..." She shook her head. "Anyway, that's the way Azala dressed."

She turned to Lucca and said with a smile, "You've gotta admit, that isn't a bad imitation of Azala's clothes. It's kind of hard to picture her as a reptite, though, without green skin."

Lucca's expression didn't change, but a sweat-drop formed on her forehead.

Leena scowled and shook her fist at Marle. "Foolish ape! Can't you even tell the difference between a male and a female? I am Queen, not King!"

Marle shrugged. "How was I supposed to know? You reptites all look alike!"

Lucca shook her head. "Never mind that! Azala, surrender at once, and hand over the Guru!" She pointed her gun at Leena.

Remembering that Ayla was supposed to be her hostage, Leena grabbed Ayla and held her hand near Ayla's throat, fingers curled like claws. "Never! One more move, apes, and Melchior here gets it!"

o-o-o-o

"So, Janus, now that Lavos has been destroyed and I'm myself again, what do you plan on doing?"

Crono shrugged. "I don't know. In the Middle Ages, I tried to conquer the world, and re-establish the Kingdom of Zeal. I guess, I'll try again."

"You don't sound very enthusiastic about it."

"Well, my real goal was always to get revenge on Lavos. Conquering the world was really more Ozzie's plot than mine. And ruling the world holds no appeal to me." He looked thoughtfully at Kid. "Schala, you were the heir to the throne. If Zeal were to be re-established, you would be its rightful ruler."

"Me, Queen? Now, that's an idea. Interesting, but a bit on the crazy side. In any case, don't you go making any plans. I'm perfectly happy to let our old kingdom rest in peace."

"You can't really approve of how Porre is handling the world, can you?"

"Well, no, but if we're going to be restoring kingdoms here, it should be Guardia, not Zeal. Besides, you only have twenty-four hours to be Magus."

"That is true. That would be long enough to take over the Funhouse, however."

"Take over the Funhouse? I assume you just mean the players, not the staff."

"Whatever."

"Well, I must admit, being Queen, even only of the Funhouse, has its appeals, but I think I'll have to decline. I'd rather be the other player's friend than their master."

"Hmmm... Just so long as that fool Azala doesn't try to conquer the Funhouse himself..."

"Having second thoughts about not helping them fight her?"

"No. But, if they can't handle it, I might have to consider stepping in..."

o-o-o-o

"Let Melchior go, and we'll let you go free," Lucca said, her gun still pointed at Leena.

"Foolish ape, do you hope to bargain with me? Well, here is my offer: Leave my lair, and I shall allow Melchior to live."

Ayla said heroically, "Do not worry about me. If Azala is not stopped, she will try to destroy all human kind!"

Lucca disagreed. "I won't sacrifice a life unnecessarily."

Frog said to Leena, "Abandon these cowardly threats, and face me in honorable combat."

Leena scoffed. "Me? Fight you? I am the absolute Monarch of the Reptites! It is beneath my dignity to fight the likes of you."

Marle pointed out, "You don't have any minions, do you?"

"Er, well..."

Harle spoke up. "I do not remember why, but I feel some sort of kinship with you. Besides, zese people are boring when zey aren't making fools of zemselfs. If you would like my assistance, I would be more than happy to join you."

Leena said uncertainly, "I don't need the help of apes..."

"Am I an ape?" Harle asked dubiously. "Somehow, zat does not sound right..."

Leena growled at Ayla. "Well, Melchior? Is she an ape, or isn't she?"

"Um..."

Realizing that neither Leena nor Ayla had been privy to any of the discussions of Harle's ancestry, Marle answered, "She isn't human. Kid told me she's some sort of reptite."

Lucca scowled at Marle.

Marle looked at Lucca apologetically. "I was afraid Azala might do something to Melchior."

Leena smiled. "Well, cousin, if you are a Reptite, then you must obey me. Destroy these nuisances."

Harle began flinging cards at Marle, Frog, Serge, and Lucca. Those four fought back, holding her off. But then Leena tossed Ayla to the bed, reminded her that Melchior was just a helpless old man, and joined in the fight.

Leena wasn't a very strong fighter, and Marle and Frog were quite skilled, so even though Serge and Lucca weren't acting quite themselves, Lucca's team managed to win. Rather than surrendering, Leena and Harle ran off.

Lucca helped Ayla up. "Are you all right, Melchior?"

"Yes. I am fine... Viper."

"That's General Viper," Lucca corrected.

"Right. General..." Ayla said.

Then they both turned and stared as Serge pulled off his boots and socks, and put on Leena's sandals.

"There, much better."

Marle giggled.

o-o-o-o

Korcha and Pierre were hanging out in the Gray Room, bored, when Anar came in.

"Hey, Korcha. Your mud is ready."

Pierre gave a face of disgust.

Korcha got up.

"If you want to wear your bathing suit, you can bring it along," Anar told him. "Otherwise, we've got a towel you can cover yourself with."

"Wearing my suit already," Korcha said with a smile.

Korcha followed him out.

As they reached the dare room, Korcha told him, "Hold on a sec, I promised Kid I'd let her know when I went."

Korcha spotted Crono and Kid down the hall near the door to the Challenge room. He headed over and told her, "Hey, it's time."

"Great. Want to come see Korcha make a fool of himself?" she asked Crono.

"No thanks, Schala. I have little patience for fools."

"Suit yer self." Kid and Korcha walked back to the waiting Anar.

At the end of the supply room, Anar pointed out the changing rooms.

"Why would I need that?" Korcha pulled off his vest and gloves, then bent down to unwind the tape from his feet.

"What do I do with these?" he asked, holding his clothes.

"Put em over on that box. No one'll move them- unless you want us to take them back to your room for you."

Kid said dryly to Korcha, "Real professional operation they've got goin' here."

"Yeah, they didn't seem to have thought of everything ahead of time..."

Anar asked, "What about you, Kid? You want to use the changing rooms?"

"Nah, I'm just here to watch."

"Okay, then. Follow me."

Anar led them down some halls, and finally into a spacious room with an octagonal pool, about three yards in diameter, filled with brown mud.

Anar waved his hand expansively. "Enjoy."

Korcha looked at him. "So, how about some privacy then?"

Anar nodded. "Bingo. You think you'll need me to lead you back to the supply room?"

"Er, yeah. I didn't quite memorize the way."

"Okay. I'll be outside."

"Wait, once I'm done here, where do I wash up?"

"Back in the Gray Room, I'd imagine."

"Don't you have somewhere back here? Bekkler said I could wash off afterwards."

"So? That doesn't oblige us to help you do that. The supply room and its staff only exist to provide you players with the tools to perform your dares."

Korcha scowled. "Fine then. You can go now."

Anar headed out, and Kid smirked.

Korcha looked at the pool of mud, and gulped.

Kid urged him on. "So, what are you waiting for?"

Instead of answering, Korcha walked up to the edge, and stepped down into the pool. He found it wasn't very deep, less than two feet.

He walked to the middle of it, and sat down. The mud was on the thick side, but still thin enough that it flowed in around him, covering him up to just below his shoulders.

"So, how is it?"

"Not bad. It's nice and warm, and not nearly as disgusting as I thought it might be."

"Glad to hear it."

"So, how about cha joinin' me?"

"What did I tell you?"

With mock sincerity, Korcha responded, "Kid, won't you please do me the great honor of dirtying yourself just a little bit?"

Kid laughed. "Oh, I suppose, since you asked so nicely." She walked up to the edge of the pool and took off her left glove, tossing it on the floor. Then she knelt down and stuck her bare fingers in the mud. She frowned. "I thought you said it was warm. This mud is cold."

Korcha moved over to her. "That's weird… I guess I must have lied!" And with that, he grabbed her arm, and pulled her into the pool.

She fell face-first into the mud, only her feet sticking out of it. Even those went under as she got to her knees, mud dripping off her face and hair as she lifted it out of the mud. She scowled at him darkly.

Korcha clutched his sides and kicked his feet in a fit of laughter.

Kid kept scowling, but a smile crept across her face. Quietly, she said, "Well, I guess you got me. But don't think you're getting away with out paying for this."

She lunged at him, and the two of them began wrestling, each trying to pin the other. However, the mud made their bodies slippery, and neither one could manage to get a good grip on the other.

Finally, Kid managed to push Korcha completely under the surface. She tried to hold him like that for a little while, but he struggled, and managed to get free. As his head broke the surface, she told him, "There, now we're both just as muddy."

"Cha - almost. But you're wearin' more clothes than me; I betcha they kept some a' the mud off ya."

Kid crossed her arms. "Well, yer not gettin' them off me, if that's what yer thinkin'."

Korcha looked at her thoughtfully, and for a moment Kid was afraid he was going to try to do just that. Instead, he told her, "Betcha I could get mud under your clothes without takin' them off cha." He grabbed a handful of mud with one hand, and reached for her with the other.

"Oh, no you don't," Kid said, backing away. She quickly climbed out of the pool, grabbed her glove, and dashed for the door.

Korcha climbed out as well, and dashed after her, grinning.

Anar stared in surprised as Kid and Korcha ran down the hallway. mud flying loose from their bodies and splattering the floor as they went.

"I thought she was only going to watch?" He shook his head. "I guess I better make sure they find their way back to the supply room. " He started leisurely heading down the hall, following the trail of mud they left behind.

* * *

Author's Note: When I first played Chrono Trigger, I assumed Azala was male. I think it was while watching the "Reptite Ending" that I first began to wonder if she might be female; however when I first wrote this chapter I still thought it most likely she was male. I have recently learned that Azala is referred to as female in the DS version, which is enough to settle the question for me.

However, when revising this chapter it occurred to me that as this story is primarily based on the SNES version, even if Azala was female, the cast might not all know it! Hence the scene between Marle and Leena about whether Azala was King or Queen.


	8. Episode Six Part Two

**Crono Crossover: The Funhouse**

**Episode Six, Part Two**

**Round One, Part Two Continued**

Crono was leaning against the wall in the dare room when Leena and Harle ran in. He raised an eyebrow, and a sweat-drop formed on his forehead.

"Do not worry, your majesty. Zey are not following us."

"Foolish apes. They'll come to regret this day. Now, we need a new base of operations..." Leena noticed Crono, and said angrily, "You there! What are you looking at?"

Crono said in a cold mocking voice, "So, the mighty Azala has been defeated by a handful of `apes' and a frog. Pathetic."

"We were not defeated! I merely thought it wise to regroup and reconsider my strategy."

"In other words, you ran away."

She growled at him. "And I suppose you could do better?"

"Against that bunch? Hard to say. I certainly wouldn't have run away, though."

"Hmph. Come, Harle, I have an idea for a new base." She led Harle to the dungeon area.

o-o-o-o

A little bit later, Kid and Korcha came out of the supply room, followed by Anar, who had Korcha's clothes. Crono had to fight to keep from laughing at Korcha and Kids' mud-covered forms.

As they passed him, Kid told him sternly, "Don't ask."

o-o-o-o

Kid insisted on showering first, since getting muddy was Korcha's dare, not hers. She washed her hands first and got out new clothes from her the dresser. Unfortunately, Serge was borrowing her last clean skirt. Rather than go ask for it back (and let everyone see her covered in mud) she chose to pull out the one dress she'd brought with her, a purple robe like she'd worn as Schala. (And since she only had one pair of boots, she had to wear something else on her feet. Luckily, she'd also brought shoes to go with the dress.)

While she showered, Korcha had to sit around in the main room, where Pierre avoided him.

Marle happened to come in during this time, hoping to change out of her latex-stained shirt into a new one. She couldn't help but laugh to see Korcha such a mess.

"You may laugh at me, but I managed to get Kid just as muddy."

"You didn't." Marle's voice was a mixture of disbelief and amusement.

"I did. Pulled her right into the pool with me. That's why she's in the shower now."

"No kidding."

When Kid got out of the shower, Korcha got in.

Marle complemented Kid on her dress. "It's really elegant. Dye your hair blue, and you'd look just like your old self!"

"Thanks."

o-o-o-o

At five, Lucca, Crono, Serge, and Ayla went to eat. Crono sat apart from the others.

Leena waited until they had left to go in and get her food. Even though only the kitchen staff was there to see her, she knew even they would be reporting on how well she played her role, so she stayed in character, eating only the meat, and that without utensils. Like a civilized Reptite, she did wipe her hands and mouth afterwards.

o-o-o-o

After supper, Kid took Ayla aside. "Sorry for not helping to 'rescue' you, 'Melchior'. At first I wasn't sure about going along with all th' role-playin'... Then I was too busy 'reuniting' with 'Janus' and keepin' Korcha company while he took his mubath."

Ayla shook her head. "It is fine, Schala. You are powerful in magic, but you are not fighter. It was good you left it to others."

Kid scowled. "Hey, I might not have been a fighter as Schala, but as Kid I'm a match for you - er, I mean Ayla - or any of Crono's group."

Ayla held up her hands. "I no... I did not mean to insult you... I was thinking of you as Schala, not Kid."

"I suppose since you knew me as Schala that is understandable, 'Melchior'... But don't forget I'm not **just** Schala, old man."

"I... will keep it in mind."

"Anyway, it's good to see you again. Nice to know you survived the Fall of Zeal alright."

"Yes. I am glad to see you survived too."

Not wanting to break role, Ayla didn't say anything about it, but she wondered to herself if after the Funhouse was over they might be able to take Kid back to 1000 AD so she could meet the real Melchior.

The two talked for some time longer, "catching up" much as Kid had done with Crono.

o-o-o-o

That night, when Harle returned to the Gray Room, she told the others, "Zanks to ze silly rules of zis Funhouse, my master, Azala, must sleep in either the Red Room or the Gray room this night. Since she would not be welcome in ze Red Room, she sent me to ask if you would allow 'er to stay 'ere tonight."

No one quite knew what to think about this.

Finally, Marle shrugged. "I guess that would be all right. But that would mean one of us would have to go over there, and I can't do that until tomorrow night."

Harle told them, "I would gladly take Azala's place, but I do not wish to leave 'er unprotected."

No one else was really interested in sleeping in the other apartment, until Marle mentioned how nice the bath and beds there were. Finally, Pierre decided to be the one to go. It took a bit of work to convince Red team to let him, however.

When Leena showed up in the Gray room, she found she had two choices for a bed, since Frog had decided to sleep on the floor, to keep his bed clean. She chose Pierre's bed nonetheless, both to be closer to her ally Harle and to be further away from her enemy, Marle.

o-o-o-o

In the red room, Serge slept in his normal bed, but Ayla took back the bed she shared with Lucca. Pierre took Leena's bed, leaving Lucca to sleep on the couch. Crono decided to try sleeping leaning against a wall (after all, that's how Magus did it.)

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

_**Day Six**_

Sleeping while standing apparently hadn't worked for Crono, seeing as when Lucca got up in the morning, she found Crono asleep, sitting against the wall.

He ended up getting up a lot earlier than usual, due to his uncomfortable position.

They had to wake Serge up for breakfast, as usual, but when they reminded him he was Miki, he got up without a fuss, assuming she wouldn't have slept late.

As for Pierre, they let him sleep.

o-o-o-o

In the Gray Room, Leena and Harle took their leave of the others early, to return to the dungeon to plot the downfall of mankind...

Crono was leaning against the wall in the hall near the doors to the players' apartments, when Leena found him.

"Magus, I've been looking for you."

"Well, you found me. Now you can leave."

"Quiet, ape! I have a proposition for you."

"I'm listening."

"It is my destiny to rule this world. But I can't do it without more minions- or allies. Normally, I wouldn't consider an alliance with apes, but one must work with what one is given. I've heard that you are a 'Mystic'- a more evolved form of human. I've also heard that at one time you attempted to rule this world. Perhaps, we could form an alliance towards that goal?"

Crono considered this. "Sounds like as good a way as any to pass the time. One condition, though- no one harms my sister."

"Of course not. Perhaps we might even recruit her to our cause?"

"I doubt she'll agree, but I'll run it by her."

"Good..."

o-o-o-o

Much to Crono's surprise, Kid agreed to join their insurrection.

"What the hell. It might be fun."

o-o-o-o

_And so, later that morning..._

Reton was alone in the supply room when Leena, Crono, Harle, and Kid burst in.

Leena told him, "You, ape! Get us some rope, or chains."

"I'm not authorized to give you any supplies not necessary for your dares."

"Insolent ape! I wasn't asking, I was ordering!"

Kid said, "In other words, it **is** necessary for their dares. So, either help us, or find something to do somewhere else." She fingered her dagger suggestively.

"Er, right. I just remembered, Anar never finished cleaning the pool room yesterday." He ran off.

o-o-o-o

Marle, Lucca, Serge, Ayla, and Robo were hanging out in the Red Room, when the four conspirators broke in.

Lucca said in surprise, "Azala! So you have returned! But what are you two doing with her, Kid and Magus?"

Kid answered, "We're making this Funhouse into a new Kingdom of Zeal."

"No, it shall be the beginnings of a new Reptite Empire! But we can work that out later. For the time being we have agreed to work as equals. Against our might, you stand no change, General Viper! Surrender now, and we may allow you the honor of being our slaves."

"Never, foul beast! We shall fight to the last! Miki, Marle, let us vanquish these villains once and for all!"

With Crono and Kid on Leena's side, this battle went quite differently from the last.

"Melchior, you must go get Frog! He's our only hope!"

"Of course, General." Ayla ran towards the door.

Leena commanded, "Harle, stop her- I mean him!"

Harle flung a card at Ayla. It hit her dead on. Pretending to be hurt badly, Ayla fell to the floor, as if unconscious.

"No!" Lucca turned to Robo. "Robo, you must assist us! If you do not, Azala and the Magus shall win!"

Marle added, "Come on! You don't want to be their slave, do you? Besides, Lucca would want you to fight against Azala and Magus, don't you think?"

Leena said, "Don't listen to them, Robo. You are not an ape. You have no reason to be loyal to them!"

"I am not programmed for participating in mass roleplaying. I shall maintain neutrality in this matter."

Marle complained, "Spoilsport."

After a bit more fighting, Leena and Crono's side won.

"Harle, bring in our little package we borrowed from the supply room," Leena said.

Harle brought in a box of shackles and chains, with which they restrained their captives.

Kid told Robo, "Submit to us as our slave, or join them in chains."

"Very well, I shall obey you. However, I shall not fight for you."

"You will if we order you to! But considering that Frog is the only other strong fighter left, I don't think that will be necessary."

They brought the captives to the dungeon, and locked them in cells.

Then, taking Robo with them, they attacked the Gray room.

"Surrender, or join General Viper and his friends in the dungeon!"

Korcha couldn't believe this. "Come on guys, you're just pretending to be villains. There's no need for this. And Kid, what'cha doin' playin' along with them?"

"Shut up and fight, Korcha!"

And so, the battle for the Gray room began.

Frog and Crono faced off, as did Kid and Korcha. Leena and Harle, meanwhile, easily overcame Pierre, who still thought this was crazy.

Soon after this, Kid beat Korcha & chained him up with Pierre.

Then, Frog swung his sword and his blade nearly reached Crono's neck, stopping only because Frog chose to stop it.

"What are you waiting for, Frog? Strike me down. Enact your vengeance for the death of Cyrus, and for the spell I cast upon you."

"As thou wisheth." Frog flipped the blade, and touched the flat side to Crono's head. Crono fell to the floor, pretending to be dead.

"Janus!" Kid cried in mock despair. "Frog, how could you?"

"'Twas his desire that the battle be to the finish. And death was no less than he deserved."

Leena said, "Kid, Harle, get him!"

Kid scowled at Leena. "Don't order me around!"

And so it was that Harle faced Frog alone. She fared no better against him than Crono, though she surrendered rather than pretending to be killed.

"Incompetence! Robo- take him!"

"I must repeat, I will not fight for you."

"Would you prefer to be put in chains?"

"Affirmative."

"Ape-built junk!" She turned to Kid. "It looks like it's up to us now. If we are to overcome our foe, we must strike together."

"Sorry, Azala, but without my brother, I just don't have the heart to rule the world." She ran off, with a mock wail.

"I knew it was a mistake to rely on apes," Leena said with disgust.

Frog advanced on Leena, waving his sword. "Now, release mine friends, or join Magus in the nether-realm."

A bead of sweat appeared on her forehead. "We Reptites never surrender. Pitiful amphibian, prepare to face my wrath!"

She darted at him, "clawing" at him with her fingers. Then she jumped back, out of the range of his sword.

He swung at her, but she avoided it. She darted in again, and pretended to bite his arm. He shook her off of him, and came at her with his sword, cutting her cape, but not harming her.

She backed off, and spit out sand from his arm.

The two fought some more, but in the end, Frog won, "slaying" "Azala" as he had "Magus".

Frog found the keys and unlocked Korcha and Pierre. Then Frog, Robo, and Korcha headed to the dungeon and freed the others.

"Thank you Frog. We are in your debt," Lucca told him. "But what of the foul villains who did this?"

"Kid and Harle renounced their villainous ways, but I was forced to slay Magus and Azala."

"You WHAT?" Marle demanded.

"Do not worry, milady, Crono and Leena are fine. They just have a much easier role to play now- albeit, a boring one: They must pretend to be dead."

"Oh. Gee, that would get boring. Good thing they only have a few hours left. I'll go keep them company."

o-o-o-o

At noon, Serge, Lucca, and Ayla went to the cafeteria to get lunch. Unfortunately for Crono and Leena, dead people don't eat.

o-o-o-o

When Piette showed up at the Gray room with their laundry, Kid pulled out the skirt of hers they'd cleaned, and went to change into it.

o-o-o-o

A little after one, Vicks came by to inform Frog and the role-players they could end their dares- except for Harle, who must remain amnesiac until the next bonus dare.

He then told them, "You have twenty minutes to change your clothes, freshen up, or whatever you might want to do. At one-thirty, we want to see you in the dare room." He then headed out.

Frog went and washed up.

Crono was relieved to end his dare. "Thanks for the company, Marle."

"No problem."

Leena untied the sheet from her neck. "Thank goodness that's over. I can't wait to get back into my own clothes. Running around dressed like that was embarrassing."

Marle giggled. "You did a good job, though, Leena."

"I hope it was worth it. By the way, did Azala really dress like that?"

"Well, it was armor, not a bathing suit, but yes, that's exactly how she dressed.

"That is too weird."

Harle asked, "What is going on? I thought she was Azala."

Marle looked at Harle. "Hoo-Boy. I guess I've got some more explaining to do."

Leena pointed out, "Hey, don't forget, she's just acting, too."

"Oh, yeah."

Leena folded up the sheet and returned to the Red Room.

o-o-o-o

In the Red Room, Ayla had untied her hair from it's "mustache", and switched back to her own clothes (her top and scarf had been returned, clean and dry, while they were at lunch).

When Leena got there, Serge was in the bathroom washing up and changing. Leena waited for him to get out, so she could change.

When he came out, he was happy to see her. "Hi, Leena. Nice to be able to talk to you as myself again."

"Yeah. That was funny seeing you dressed like Miki."

"I don't want to have to do that sort of thing again. It was embarrassing. But seeing you running around in your bathing suit was kind of neat."

"That was just as embarrassing for me as cross-dressing was for you, so don't expect me to make a habit of it!"

"Of course not!" he agreed quickly.

She went in to change, and he returned to the Gray Room to return Kid's skirt.

o-o-o-o

Soon, they had all assembled in the Dare Room. Norstein Bekkler floated down from the ceiling with his usual cackle.

"Well, I heard you all had fun performing your dares. Now, it's time to judge how well you did. I'll hand out cards, with the names of all the day's role-players. Put a check in the yes box if you think they did a good job impersonating their character, and a check in the no box if you think not. Please don't vote for yourself. Wedge will assist Ayla."

They all cast their votes, and Bekkler tallied them.

"Crono received ten votes. His role-playing apparently met most of your approval. The dare has been performed adequately." His points rose to 10.

"Lucca, you only received six votes, out of twelve. This is a tie; we'll have to call in Chronos.

"Ayla, you received ten votes- not bad." Her points rose to 12.

"Serge, you received eight votes. Not a wide margin of support, but passable." His points rose to 8.

"And finally, Leena, you received a full twelve votes. Your Azala made quite an impression on your fellow players, not to mention my staff. Good work." Her points rose to 6.

She gave a modest smile. "Thanks guys. Especially you, Ayla. I couldn't have done it without your advice."

"Heh, heh. Ayla know Azala well, not hard for Ayla to tell about Azala." In a complimentary tone, she said, "Leena listen to advice well. Ayla glad Leena friend, not enemy like real Azala."

Bekkler snapped his fingers. "Chronos, could you spare a moment?"

In a flash of blue light, the humanoid cat appeared. "Yo, Bekkler, any time, man. What's up? Need a little tie-breaker?" This time, instead of a jacket, he wore a dark blue robe, which hung open, revealing that he still wore nothing underneath.

Bekkler answered, "That's right. We need to determine if Lucca did a good job imitating General Viper."

"I know that. I was watching. Let me think." He ran his left hand through his beard a few times.

"What does he mean, he was watching?" Lucca wondered.

Harle commented, "Oo la la, who is zat fine specimen?"

Marle told her, "He's Chronos. He helped Bekkler create this game. And we figured out you liked his looks last time."

Pierre said, "I can't believe he forgot 'is pants again! 'Ow absent minded can he be?"

Kid said, "Pierre, I don't think he forgot. My guess is he's some sort a exhibitionist. Pathetic."

Chronos looked up. "No, I'm not an exhibitionist- just a bit of a nudist.

"Oh, and Harle, I think you look good too. You're cute, and I love your transparent pants."

"T'ank you."

Marle and Kid looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

Leena shook her head. "Men!"

Chronos continued, "As to the matter at hand, I don't really know the real General Viper well enough to say whether Lucca got the personality exactly right, but it wasn't bad. She certainly tried, which is mainly what we're looking for. I'm going to vote `yes'. She performed her dare adequately."

Bekkler clapped his hands. "Well, that makes it official. Lucca passed her dare, so Red Team wins their group dare, and twelve points for the team pot." The scoreboard changed accordingly: Lucca's points rose to 9, and next to the words "Red Team", appeared a 12.

"All right, then, now that that's been taken care of, it's time for your next challenge. This is the Round One Elimination Challenge. It will be an individual challenge, and the winner will get six points. The looser, however, will be in danger of being evicted from the Funhouse. That player's team will have one chance to save him or her, and if they fail, the player will have to leave the Funhouse.

"Follow me, and I'll tell you the specifics of this round's Elimination Challenge." He floated down the hall, to the challenge room.

"See ya all later," Chronos said, and disappeared in a flash of blue light.

o-o-o-o

In the Challenge room, several shelves were set up, and on them, many pies.

Kid groaned. "Not more pies!"

Bekkler said, "That's right, more pies. That's this round's theme. This time, it'll be a Pie Throwing Contest. Your targets shall be each other." Several players groaned. "However, unlike the Team Challenge, you can wash it off as soon as you get back to your apartments, no matter whether you win or loose. In fact, in this game, there will only be one real winner, and one real looser.

"The rules are quite simple. You shall be randomly divided into groups of two. The two people in each group will take turns throwing pies at each other. You get one "challenge point" if you hit one of your counterpart's limbs, two challenge points if you hit their torso, and three if you hit their head. After you've each thrown five pies, we'll tally up the points. The person with the highest score is the winner, and gets six Funhouse points. The person with the lowest score is the looser, that person shall be in danger of Eviction... If there is no clear winner after five pies each, the players sharing the highest score will continue, one pie at a time, until a winner is declared. The same goes for those sharing the lowest scores if there is no clear looser after five pies."

Ayla commented, "Head call that simple?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Made perfect sense to me."

Bekkler continued, "Now, before we begin, I should explain a little about eviction. If you loose this Elimination Challenge, you will have one last chance to avoid being evicted from the house. If you agree to perform one to three more dares, you can choose one to three players to "champion" you in a special "Rescue Challenge". You cannot compete in your own Rescue Challenge, only your chosen champions can. If they win, you are safe, at least until the next Elimination challenge. If they loose, you must leave the Funhouse.

"Any questions?"

"Yes, I am 'aving a question. Why is it you 'ave no body?"

Bekkler put his hand to his forehead and shook his head.

"Well, if no one has any questions regarding the eviction procedures, we'll return to the Challenge at hand. Does anyone wish to sit this one out? Keep in mind, not only will you loose six points if you have them, but this is essentially forfeiting the Challenge, which means if only one person quits the challenge, that person automatically becomes the Challenge's looser, and if more than one of you forfeit, the looser will be determined from among those who forfeited."

Kid said, "Man, that's harsh."

Pierre raised his hand. "I refuse to have my clothes dirtied once more. I will take my chances with zee Eviction."

"So you refuse the Challenge? Since you only have five points, your points will be reduced to zero."

"I realize zis. But I would prefer zis to possibly ruining a good suit."

"Very well then. Does any one else want to skip the Challenge?"

Kid raised her hand. "How do you determine who is the looser if more than one person forfeits?"

"Those players must perform extra dares. Each player is given a dare, and if one refuses, he or she looses. If they both accept, they keep on spinning for more dares until one of the two of them refuses a dare. Oh, and since this is just to determine who faces eviction, the dares would only be for twenty-four hours, at maximum."

"Well, I guess I'll take my chances. Normally, this sorta thing wouldn't bother me, but I'm wearin' my only clean clothes, and if Pierre's not playin' either, I might not have ta worry 'bout bein' evicted. I forfeit the challenge."

"Your points will also be eliminated. Is that all right?"

"Yeah, I know. It's fine."

"Anyone else?" No one else rose their hand. "Very well, then. Kid, Pierre, you can watch, or go do something else until this is over. As for the rest of you, let's determine your pie-partners."

He pulled a bag out of nowhere, and had them pull numbers from it to determine their partners. The resulting pairs were: Crono & Harle, Lucca & Frog, Robo & Korcha, Ayla & Marle, and Serge & Leena.

Kid decided to stay and watch, but Pierre headed back to the Gray Room.

The floor had a boundary marked out to show the distance the members of each pair should stand- about four yards apart. The players assumed their positions, and the staff provided them with pies.

Feeling guilty about the idea of throwing pies at Leena, Serge apologized in advance. "Sorry about this Leena."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Serge. I can wash off afterwards. Just do your best."

Bekkler gave them some last minute instructions. "Now, once I tell the throwers to aim, you targets are to assume one position and keep it until the pie has reached it's destination. No dodging! Also, no poses which block any part of your body."

"Ready, aim, throw!"

Crono, Lucca, Robo, Ayla, and Serge threw their pies. Crono's pie hit Harle in the arm, Ayla and Serge's pies hit Marle and Leena in the chest, and Lucca and Robo each hit their targets' head.

The second group now threw. Frog's height proved a disadvantage, as he was only able to hit Lucca's knee (he hit it quite hard, however). Leena had even worse luck, totally missing Serge. Korcha hit Robo in the chest, and Harle and Marle had perfect aim, hitting Crono and Ayla in the face.

The players were given more pies, and threw another round. Over the next few rounds, most of those who had failed to hit their partner's face managed to improve, while those who hit it right the first time managed to continue to hit dead on.

After the fifth round of pies, Crono had 9 points, and had the remains of five pies on his face. Lucca had 15 points, had pie on her knee, skirt, left hand, just below her right breast, and on her lower face. Robo had 15 points, and pie on his chest and head. Ayla had 14 points, and pie on her face. Serge had 10 points, and pie on his left arm, chest, and belly. Harle had 15 points, and had been hit on her right arm, just below her left hip, on her left shoulder, on each breast, and on her face. Frog had 9 points, and pie on his face. Korcha had 11 points, and pie on his face. Marle had 15 points, and pie on her chest and face. And finally, Leena had a mere 5 points, and pie on her left arm, belly, and chest.

Bekkler tallied the scores. "Lucca, Robo, Harle, and Marle, you four will continue on into the next round of the challenge. You'll have to cover a longer distance, with smaller pies. Why don't you come over here and pick a card to determine your new partner."

They did this, and the new pairs were Lucca & Marle, and Robo & Harle.

These four went to their new spots, which were five yards apart. Lucca really put her arm into her throw, and hit Marle in the face.

"Hah!"

"No big deal, Lucca."

Meanwhile, Robo easily hit Harle in the face.

Now Marle and Harle threw their pies. Harle hit Robo in the face with no problem, but Marle discovered that though her aim was good, her throwing arm wasn't, and her pie hit Lucca in the chest.

"Marle, you're out. Lucca, pick a card to determine whether you'll be throwing at Harle or Robo." She drew Robo.

They now backed off by another yard. Robo threw his pie at Harle, and hit her in the face. Trading partners, Harle threw hers at Lucca, also hitting her target in the face. Finally, Lucca threw at Robo, but at this distance even Lucca had some trouble. The pie missed, and Lucca, too, was out of the challenge.

Robo and Harle backed off farther, and threw another set of pies at each other. Both hit their mark, so they continued to back away. Finally, Harle's aim and throwing power were taken to their limit, and found inferior to that of Robo.

Bekkler announced, "Robo wins the challenge, and six points!"

"You just got lucky," Harle said.

Bekkler told them, "Now, Kid, if you'll return with me to the Dare room, one of my staff will get Pierre, and we can determine which of the two of you is going to need to be rescued from eviction. The rest of you may watch, if you like, or go get cleaned up if you'd prefer." Bekkler headed back to the dare room.

* * *

Who will have to face threat of eviction, Kid or Pierre? And will his or her chosen champions be able to save him or her? Unfortunately, the answer to that will have to wait, as this episode is already way too long! Round One comes to a close (finally), in the next episode of the Funhouse!


	9. Episode Seven

**Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse**

**Episode Seven**

**Round One Part Three**

Previously: The Red team went a bit crazy with their role playing, as Leena and Crono tried to conquer the Funhouse in their roles of Azala and Magus. Later, the players competed in a pie-throwing contest. Robo won the contest, while Kid and Pierre bowed out, putting them in danger of eviction.

* * *

Character Scoreboard:

**Red Team (Team points: 12):**

_**Crono**__:  
_Points: 10

_**Lucca**__:  
_Points: 9

_**Robo**__:  
_(Serial Dare X: "Metamorphosis" into action figure.)  
Conditions: Head plastic  
Points: 72

_**Ayla**__:  
_Points: 12

_**Serge**__:  
_Points: 8

_**Leena**__:  
_Points: 6

.

**Gray Team (team points: 0):**

_**Frog:  
**_Points: 10

_**Marle:  
**_Condition: latex bracelets  
Points: 10

_**Korcha:  
**_Points: 9

_**Kid  
**_Points: 0

_**Pierre:  
**_Points: 0

_**Harle:  
**_(Serial Dare VI: "Identity Crisis")  
Conditions: amnesia (until next bonus)  
Points: 66

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

**Day Six Continued**

The pie covered contestants gathered in the dare room to discover the fate of their clean companions, Kid and Pierre.

After Pierre arrived, Bekkler explained again, "To determine which of you will face the Rescue Challenge, we'll use the dare wheel. But we won't leave it entirely up to chance- you'll be spinning for dares. If one of you accepts the dare you spin, but the other doesn't, the one who refuses must faces the Rescue Challenge. If you both accept or refuse, you'll both spin again, and again, until only one of you refuses. The player who wins this activity must perform the dares he or she has agreed to perform. However, we'll go easy on you- the winner of the activity only has to perform these dares for twenty-four hours, and the looser doesn't need to perform the dares he or she agreed to in this activity- facing the Rescue challenge will be enough for them to worry about."

Kid went first, and spun a King. "Well, it looks like your first dare is three in one! Spin again." She got a V (Appearance), then a 3: temporary tattoo. Picking a couple of cards, it was determined it would be of a demoness, and on her right thigh.

"Tattoos ain't my style, but I suppose I can handle it."

Her second spin was a II (Costume), then a 3, followed by a C: wear pajamas all day.

"What? If I had known I was gonna be wearing my nightgown all day anyway, I would have competed in the pie-throwing contest, and changed afterwards!"

"Unfortunately, it's too late for you to do that now."

"Damn." She spun again. Her third dare was VIII (Easy Dares) 2: costume of choice.

"Another costume?"

"Yes, and you must wear it at the same time as your pajamas."

"Beautiful."

Pierre now spun, and got VII (Activities) 7: stay in bed for 24 hrs.

Both accepted. Kid now spun another VIII 2: costume of choice.

"Another one? Ya mean I gotta choose two costumes to wear with my nightgown, at the same time?"

"That's correct."

"Bloody crazy game."

Pierre spun a king, then X (Transformation) 2-b: transformed into talking pig.

"You wish to transform moi into a pig?"

"Only for twenty-four hours."

"No, I refuse."

"You do realize that if you refuse this, you must face the Rescue Challenge?"

"Yes, I know."

"Very well. Kid, you may go to the supply room to get your tattoo and costumes. Meanwhile, Pierre, think about who you'd like to be your champions in the rescue challenge. They'll need to have good strength and aim, and it would be helpful if they have the ability to handle multiple tasks at once. They don't necessarily have to be from your team, but obviously, your teammates would have more incentive to keep you in the game than your opponents would. Once you've made your decision, you can spin the dare wheel to determine what dares you must do if you want your chosen champions to participate in the Rescue challenge."

Kid went to the Gray Room to grab her nightgown, then headed to the supply room.

Meanwhile, Pierre chose Harle, Frog, and Robo as his champions. For Harle, he spun a VI (Role-Playing) 2-a: passive; for Frog a VII (Activities) 9-b: kiss random player (and picked a card with Crono on it); and for Robo, he spun a III (Messy) 5: Cover palms with messy substance. The card he picked for substances was peanut butter.

"You wish moi to cover my hands in peanut butter?"

"Only your palms, and only for a day."

"Out of the question."

"Then Robo won't be championing you."

"Ah well. Harle and Frog should be enough."

"Yes, but they'll only be your champions if you act passively for the next twenty four hours, and give Crono a kiss- assuming he'll even accept it."

"Why wouldn't he? Who wouldn't want a kiss from one as handsome and heroic as moi?"

Bekkler looked at Crono, who slowly but firmly shook his head "no".

Pierre was aghast. "You do not wish for a kiss from moi? It would not mean anything. It is simply something we would do for the Funhouse. Surly it is not zat bad?"

Crono shook his head again, his expression indicating he was still referring to the dare.

"Please? I really need zis, to stay in ze game."

Crono shook his head a third time.

Bekkler said, "Well, that's that, Pierre. It looks like Harle will have to handle your rescue alone. Harle and Pierre, the challenge will be in half an hour. Pierre, you should take this time to pack your bags and say goodbye: if Harle fails, you'll be leaving the Funhouse immediately following the challenge.

"I'll see you in half an hour." Bekkler flew off.

o-o-o-o

In the Supply room, Marian led Kid to the Costume storage, and Kid stared in awe at all the costumes: gorilla costumes, pirate costumes, mummy costumes, mermaid costumes, and countless others.

"Quite the selection."

"That's the idea. See any you like?"

"Well, these angel wings are kinda nice."

"So, do you want to wear them for your dare?"

"I might. Let me look a little bit more."

After a little bit, she decided to go with the wings, as well as two pieces from a "cyborg" costume: a metal glove and sleeve that looked mechanical, for her left arm, and a metal piece that covered the left side of her face, with a transparent red piece covering the eye-hole.

"Interesting choices," Marian observed.

Marian took her to a place where they had a table Kid could lie down on while Marian applied the temporary tattoo. Kid was a bit annoyed when she saw exactly what the tattoo would look like- the red-skinned, bat-winged "demoness" was naked.

"Glad people aren't likely to see that," she commented.

After the tattoo had been applied, Kid went to the changing room, and changed into her nightgown. Then Marian helped her put on the angel wings and cyborg parts. She told Kid that Kid must wear the cyborg parts, angel wings, and nightgown at all times, except when bathing, in order to fulfill the dare.

Looking in the mirror, Kid commented, "I look like such an idiot."

"Yes, but it could be worse. At least you got to choose your costumes."

"That's true. Well, I might as well go." Kid headed back to the Gray room.

o-o-o-o

The Gray team all snickered to see Kid dressed like that. Korcha laughed too, but then told her, "Even if cha look a bit silly, ya still look good."

Marle agreed. "Yeah, you look great."

"Thanks," Kid said sarcastically. She tried her best to pretend she wasn't embarrassed.

o-o-o-o

Pierre packed his bags, then said a polite farewell to his teammates.

A half an hour after the pie-throwing contest, Wedge showed up to tell Harle and Pierre to come with him, and bring Pierre's bags with them.

Wedge led them through the Funhouse maze, which had been rearranged. All the traps and obstacles were inactive, and Wedge had a key for some doors leading to access hallways, allowing them to take several shortcuts. Finally, they made their way to the Funhouse Lobby.

Bekkler was waiting for them. "Harle, your mission is to rescue Pierre. Three monsters will be attacking you, and you must drive them back by throwing stones from that pile on the floor at them. In addition..."

A rope came out of nowhere, wrapped around Pierre, and hoisted him up, above on of the room's fires.

"-as you fight the monsters, Pierre will be slowly lowered into that fake fire. Hit that glowing blue button on the wall to raise him back up again. If his feet touch the flames, or the monsters reach you, you loose, and Pierre must leave the house. If you drive the monsters back, you win, and Pierre is safe.

"Any questions? Besides why I have no body, I mean."

"Non. I understand. Do not worry, monsieur Pierre, I shall save you."

"Very well, then. Begin!"

Three Poyozos came out of the door from the maze, and Harle began throwing rocks at them. Meanwhile, Pierre was slowly lowered towards the fire. After a few moments, Harle ran over and hit the blue button, raising Pierre. Harle then went back to throwing rocks. With each rock, a monster would back a bit, then start coming forward again.

Harle's aim was perfect. Unfortunately, she had a hard time trying to drive all three Poyozos back at once, and sparing the time to run over and hit the blue button every so often.

Finally, she messed up on her timing, and before she could get to the button, Pierre was lowered into the fake fire. There was a puff of smoke, throwing ash up onto Pierre. "Hey!" Pierre protested.

Bekkler told them, "Sorry, Harle you lost. Pierre, I'm sorry to say, you have the unfortunate distinction of being the first who must leave the Funhouse."

"I am sorry monsieur Pierre. I tried my best."

The rope came off, and Pierre brushed the ash off. "Do not feel bad, mademoiselle Harle. It waz a mistake even joining zis game. I shall simply 'ave to find another way of raising ze money for my return to Guardia. I suppose, if not'ing else comes along, I can always hunt monsters. Good day to ze both of you." He picked up his bags and headed out the door.

Wedge led Harle back to the apartments.

o-o-o-o

When Harle returned to the Gray room alone, Marle asked, "Where's Pierre?"

"I waz not able to save him."

Korcha said, "Good work. He was getting on my nerves."

Kid said, "Maybe, but this means we're all going to hav'ta work harder in the team challenges now."

"Methinks we wouldest have had need to do that even had Pierre remained with us- we have yet to win such an event."

"Well, we've only had two, but, point taken. We need to get off our arses."

o-o-o-o

While the Gray Team discussed strategy, the Red Team resumed their unarmed combat training under Ayla.

The rest of the day was a welcome return to the patterns they had established prior to the Role Playing dares, though there were a few differences of course- Pierre was absent, Harle was still pretending not to remember anything prior to the last Bonus Dare, and it was hard to take Kid seriously in her combination costume, a fact which led to her keeping to herself as much as possible.

After supper, Kid realized that Robo wouldn't be affected by what she was wearing, so the two of them went off together to discuss philosophy and other matters.

o-o-o-o

Later that evening, Marle suggested to Kid that the two of them sleep over in the Red room.

"With me dressed like this? No way!"

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll wait too then. Maybe we'll be able to do it tomorrow night."

o-o-o-o

At bedtime, getting ready went a bit faster than usual for the Gray team- Kid was already in her nightgown, and they didn't have to wait for Pierre to get done with his time-consuming preparations.

Marle chose to take off her latex bracelets—or rather, her rubber bracelets, as that was what they were now. As they came off in good condition, she put them with the rest of her clothes.

Kid and Marle had wanted to sleep in beds next to each other from the start of the Funhouse, but the fact that Frog couldn't make it to the top bunks had put an end to that idea. Now, with Pierre gone, Frog took Pierre's bed, at the far lower right, allowing Kid to take the middle lower bunk.

As Kid got into bed, she tried to arrange her wings so they wouldn't get too ruffled. Finally, she gave up and lay on her stomach.

"I wish I could take off these metal pieces. They're bloody uncomfortable," she complained to Marle.

"At least it's only for a day," Marle pointed out.

"Thank God for that."

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

_**Day Seven **_

The next morning was pretty uneventful. Ayla taught the Red team some more, and later Crono, Serge, Frog, and Korcha did some sparring. Meanwhile, Lucca, Leena, and Marle gossiped, while Kid tried to stay away from the others as much as possible.

o-o-o-o

At One, Piette came by and told Kid she could end her dares. They were then to assemble in the Dare room- it was time for the team challenge.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o **

**The Funhouse: Round Two  
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

After changing into her normal outfit, Kid brought her wings and metal pieces back to the Supply room, where Marian removed the temporary tattoo.

Kid then joined the others in the Dare room. Moments later, Bekkler arrived.

"Welcome, and congratulations on surviving the first round. Now, round two begins. Come with me for your team challenge."

He led them down the west hall, to the door to the outside area, which he unlocked. They all walked out under open sky and breathed fresh air for the first time in days.

Ayla spread her arms, and commented, "Ayla like this. No be outside in too long."

The yard was a fairly good size rectangle, longer north-to-south than east-to-west. To the left, against the western wall was a picnic table and some chairs. To the right was a swimming pool. Straight-ahead was a clear path through the grass to the northern wall.

Bekkler explained, "Today's challenge is a three legged race. Each team will be separated into pairs, and your feet tied together. The two teams will race separately, to determine the fastest pair in each. Then these two pairs shall race against each other, to determine the winning team.

"The winning team will receive the key to this yard, and will be allowed to perform a team dare tomorrow. The pairs in the loosing team, however, must stay tied together until the dare tomorrow.

"Gray team, as you have an odd number of players, one of you will have to sit this out. Since it's mandatory, they will be allowed to do so without loosing any points, provided they are willing to accept punishment along with the rest of the team should you loose- they would be asked to stay in the Gray Room apartment until the Dare tomorrow. Who will it be?"

After a bit of discussion, it was decided Frog would be the one, as his gait was so different from the others it would cause his partner difficulty. He agreed to abide by the punishment rules.

"Very good. Does anyone else wish to back out?" No one did, so Bekkler continued, "Well, then, come forward and pick a number out of the bag to determine you partner."

In the Red team, the pairs were: Robo & Crono, Lucca & Ayla, and Serge & Leena. In the Gray team the pairs were: Kid & Marle, and Korcha & Harle.

Bekkler's assistants tied the feet of the pairs together; Robo's left leg to Crono's right, Lucca's left to Ayla's right, and so on.

He told the Gray team to go first. "You'll run from this point here," he said, pointing to a line drawn in the grass with chalk, "-across the yard, to the wall, and back. The first pair back here wins." Kid & Marle, and Korcha & Harle walked up to the line. "On your mark, ready, go!"

Both pairs began to stumble almost the moment they started. Korcha and Harle slowed down, as they felt out each-other's rhythm. Meanwhile, Kid and Marle attempted to go as fast as they could, and ended up falling over. As Kid and Marle tried to get up, Korcha and Harle began to speed up.

"Come on, Marle, we've gotta get our act together."

"We have to move our legs at the same time. One of us should say when to move each leg."

"Right. I'll do it. Let's start with the middle leg. Let's go!"

With Kid directing their movements, the pair managed to speed up, but it wasn't enough. Korcha and Harle were so in tune with their own bodies that they could easily read the other's movements without even talking. They began to run, still keeping their legs in synch.

They reached the wall, turned around, and passed Marle and Kid. Marle and Kid had just turned around, when Korcha and Harle crossed the finish line.

"Congratulations, you two. You'll face the Red team's champions in the final race of the challenge."

Korcha commented, "Wow, we make quite cha team."

"Yes, so I noticed. You have very good reflexes- like mine! I shall not mind being tied together with you if we do not win." She put her arm over Korcha's shoulder, and Korcha began to blush.

Kid folded her arms.

After Kid and Marle had gotten off the track, the Red pairs gathered at the start-line.

As with the Gray team, these three pairs all stumbled at first. None of them was able to quickly catch on to their partner's rhythm this time.

It took a bit longer, but eventually, Crono began to catch on to Robo's mechanical rhythm. Once he had, they began to pick up the pace. Meanwhile, Leena and Serge argued over which of them should set the pace. Despite their bickering, however, they were still ahead of Lucca and Ayla, who were constantly falling down.

Lucca tried telling Ayla when to move her legs, as Kid had done, but Ayla was taller and faster than Lucca, so that still didn't get them in synch.

Finally, with the other pairs nearing the wall, and Lucca and Ayla less than a third of the way there, Ayla said, "This no good. Ayla and Lucca loose if not go fast! Ayla go fast, Lucca try not to fall." Ayla then started what for her was a fast jog, but for Lucca was an outright sprint. It took all of Lucca's strength and speed to keep up with Ayla, but their speed was far superior even to that of Robo and Crono, and they managed to make it to the wall while the others were just heading back. On the return, they passed the others, and made it to the finish line first.

Lucca drooped, her chest heaving as she breathed heavily in exhaustion.

"Lucca and Ayla, you win for the Red team. Korcha and Harle, if you'd come over here, we'll get the final race over with."

Lucca said, "Wait! _*huff* _At least- _pant_ - let me catch... _*puff* _...my breath."

Bekkler let them wait a minute or two, then insisted they get the race started.

In this race, Ayla and Lucca started out with a clear lead, as they sprinted towards the wall. However, Lucca was tired out from the last race, and began to stumble. Meanwhile, Korcha and Harle kept up a fast and steady pace.

By the time they reached the wall, Lucca's right foot was dragging along on the ground, and she was holding onto Ayla just to keep herself up.

Seeing her plight, Ayla put her arm around Lucca's waist to help support her. "Keep leg up. Ayla run for Lucca." And she did. But she wasn't used to running on only her legs, and as they headed back towards the finish line, Lucca's dead weight slowed Ayla down just enough that Korcha and Harle were able to pass them.

At this, Ayla tried to speed up, but began to stumble. She caught herself with her left arm, and began using it to run, as well, but Lucca found it hard to keep her free right leg off the ground like this.

"Ow! My knee's going to get skinned this way, Ayla!"

Ayla glanced at her, and raised an eyebrow. "If we no go fast, we loose."

"This is just a game, Ayla. I don't want to beat myself up to win."

Ayla obviously didn't like it, but she straightened up, and slowed down a little bit.

Korcha and Harle were still a bit ahead of them, and Lucca and Ayla knew that if Korcha and Harle didn't start to tire or make a mistake, Korcha and Harle would win. Ayla and Lucca tried to pick up their pace again, more carefully this time, but it wasn't enough.

Korcha and Harle crossed the finish line, and Bekkler announced, "Gray team wins its first challenge!"

The Gray team cheered.

Ayla and Lucca slowly made their way to the Red team.

Lucca looked at her teammates apologetically. "Sorry guys. I guess I let you all down."

Ayla shook her head. "No, not Lucca's fault. If Ayla no push Lucca in first race, better pair might have won. Ayla want to win so badly, not think of team. Ayla sorry."

Crono, Robo, Serge, and Leena looked at each other.

Crono said, "It's alright."

Robo added, "Do not be distraught. Probabilities indicated we must loose sometime."

Lucca said angrily, "Yeah, but now we've got to be tied together until tomorrow afternoon!"

Leena nodded. "That is going to be inconvenient. On the other hand, it's not often Serge and I get a good excuse to be this close together for this long of a time." She and Serge looked at each other again, and they both gave slightly embarrassed smiles.

Meanwhile, Bekkler's assistants untied Korcha, Harle, Kid, and Marle.

"Hey, we finally won one!" Kid exclaimed.

Korcha nodded. "Yep. I gotta say I like it a lot better than loosin'."

Bekkler came over and handed them their key. "You may now use this yard when ever you want. However, the Red team is not allowed in here, just as you are not allowed in the Cafeteria. Enjoy!" He then turned to the Red team. "Red team, follow me." He led them out, to the Dare room.

In the Dare Room, he told them, "Before I leave, I want to spell out the rules of your punishment. You must stay tied to each other at all times, except when getting changed. However, even at those times, you must stay within a few feet of each other. If any of you are found without your partner, or even untied for no good reason, those players shall be penalized. Any questions?"

Leena asked, "What about when we use the bathroom? Or take a bath, for that matter?"

"You must stay tied together at all times, unless removing or putting on clothing. Those are the rules. As far as modesty is concerned, you'll all just have to trust your partners to look away when necessary."

Leena and Serge began to blush.

Serge said quietly, "This could be interesting."

Leena replied, "I'm just glad you're partnered with me, instead of one of the other girls."

Serge nodded.

Bekkler asked, "Any other questions? No? Well, then, I'll see you tomorrow!" And with that, he floated away.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

Pierre: Epilogue

...Sometime later...

Pierre looked out on the bleak, sandy terrain of Earth Dragon Island sceptically. "Are you certain zere is treasure here?"

"Oh yeah," Toma assured him. "We've already found some on our previous expedition, but we had to leave more behind because of the monsters. With you protecting us, though, we should be able to excavate the rest..."

Pierre sighed, and thought, "_The things I do to make ends meet..."_

* * *

How will the Red team handle being tied together? And what sort of dares will the two teams be asked to do in the Round Two Bonus Dare? Find out next time!


	10. Episode Eight

**Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse**

**Episode Eight**

**Round Two Part One**

Previously: Harle failed to win Pierre's Rescue Challenge, so Pierre was forced to leave the Funhouse. Later, the teams competed in a three-legged race. Gray team won, so now the Red team members must remain tied together for a day.

* * *

Character Scoreboard

**Red Team **(Team points: 12):  
Team Prizes: Cafeteria

_**Crono:  
**_Conditions: left foot tied to Robo (24 hrs)  
Points: 10

_**Lucca:  
**_Conditions: right foot tied to Ayla (24 hrs)  
Points; 9

_**Robo:  
**_(Serial Dare X: "Metamorphosis" into action figure.)  
Conditions: Head plastic; right foot tied to Crono (24 hrs)  
Points: 72

_**Ayla:  
**_Conditions: left foot tied to Lucca (24 hrs)  
Points: 12

_**Serge:  
**_Conditions: left foot tied to Leena (24 hrs)  
Points: 8

_**Leena:  
**_Condition: right foot tied to Serge (24 hrs)  
Points: 6

.

**Gray Team **(Team points: 0):  
Team Prizes: Yard

_**Frog:  
**_Points: 10

_**Marle:  
**_Condition: latex bracelets  
Points: 10

_**Korcha:  
**_Points: 9

_**Kid:  
**_Points: 0

_**Harle:  
**_(Serial Dare VI: "Identity Crisis")  
Condition: feign amnesia (until next bonus)  
Points: 66

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Korcha pulled one of the lounge chairs from near the wall to the center of the yard. "Ah, this is cha life," he said, sitting down on it, his arms behind his head.

Frog pulled off his cape, armor, and boots, and hopped in the in-ground pool. After swimming around a bit, he stuck his head out and said, "Ah, 'tis good to immerse myself once more."

Marle smiled. "Hey, that's a good idea. I'm going to go change into my bathing suit."

Kid nodded. "Might as well." The two of them headed back to the Gray room.

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, the Red team hobbled back to the Red Room.

Leena directed Serge over to the couch, and they sat down. "This is going to take a bit of getting used to," she commented.

Lucca sat down to their right, with Ayla sitting on the arm of the couch. Lucca let out a sigh. "So, what now?"

Crono sat down in the chair, leaving Robo standing next to him.

Serge commented, "About now, Crono and I would normally go spar. But that would be difficult tied together like this."

Leena looked at him, and said, "I guess we'll just have to spend some time together!"

Ayla pointed out, "Fighting like this would improve team fighting."

Leena replied, "Yeah, but I'm in no mood for fighting."

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Normally, us girls would spend spare time like this chatting- but I'm all out of ideas for things to talk about- unless any of you are interested in discussing quantum theory or multi-level bio-mimetic programming..."

Leena shook her head. "Sorry, but I don't think so, Lucca."

Robo raised his hand. "I would be happy to discuss either subject."

Crono rolled his eyes. "Not while we're tied together."

"Ayla not even know what Lucca talk about."

Leena said, "Look, how about me and Serge go see if Marle and Kid are busy? Then we could at least have a good chance of coming up with something to discuss."

Serge protested, "Shouldn't we try to find something we're all interested in doing?"

"Like what?"

Lucca folded her arms. "The problem is, there just isn't enough to do in this Funhouse!"

Robo suggested, "Perhaps you could devise some game to occupy your time with?"

"We're living a game! But I suppose you're right. It would help pass the time. But what sort of game could we play without any resources?"

Leena speculated, "Charades? Truth or Dare?"

Lucca gave a disgusted look. "I've had enough acting for the week, and this game will provide us with more dares than we could ever want."

"I suppose you're right. There has to be something we could come up with, though..."

The group began brainstorming what sort of games they could play with their limited resources.

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, Kid and Marle had changed into their bathing suits, and returned to the yard. Korcha had left the lounge chair to go for a swim, so Kid stole the chair.

Marle hopped in the pool. "Man, this is great."

Korcha called out, "Kid, don'cha want'a go for a swim?"

"No, I prefer sunbathing."

"Sunbathing?" Korcha climbed out of the pool and walked over to take a look at her.

"Yes?"

"You'll have tan lines, sunbathing with your bathing suit on."

"So? I don't intend for anyone ta see me wearing less than this."

"Suit cha self."

Marle put her arms up, on the side of the pool, and said, "You know, being out here makes me feel guilty. I mean, we're enjoying the nice weather, and this pool, while the others are cooped up inside, tied together."

Kid said, "Hey, we had to deal with running around with pie on our faces. I think in the end, it all evens out."

Marle sighed. "I suppose. I just wish Chrono and Lucca could come out here. This would be a lot more fun with them here too."

o-o-o-o

Ayla, Lucca, Serge, and Leena were working out a game they could play using empty boxes and containers from their junk-food supplies, when Serge had to use the bathroom.

It proved to be quite easy for Leena to look away while Serge used the toilet. What was more difficult was fitting both of them into the confined space in the corner where the toilet sat. They managed it, however.

o-o-o-o

Eventually, the four decided on a simple game to play until they could come up with something more complex. This simple game was along the lines of "Jenga"- the goal being to use the containers to build as high a tower as possible, without it falling down. As the containers were all different sizes and shapes, though, it was a bit harder than Jenga.

o-o-o-o

The Gray team stayed out in the yard most of the afternoon, the novelty alone keeping things interesting.

As dinnertime approached, Kid and Marle returned to the Gray room to change. While they were there, they grabbed what was left of their junk-food supplies, and brought it to the yard.

Kid told the rest of the team, "We're supposed to get more tomorrow, so eat up."

Marle said, "I know it isn't much, but it'll have to tide us over..."

Korcha pointed out, "We'd have more now if **some of us** hadn't pigged out so often."

Marle said defensively, "Well, at least we have something left! If the other team hadn't won the key to the cafeteria, they'd be out of food by now."

o-o-o-o

Back in the Red room, the players put the containers away, and headed to the cafeteria. Being tied together limited their options for seating arrangements, but otherwise the meal went as usual.

o-o-o-o

After supper, Ayla and Serge finally convinced Leena and Lucca to do some sparring. Normally, when the Gray room wasn't available, they would use the Dare room, but they decided they didn't want to watch the Gray team enjoying themselves outside. Instead, they went to the front room of the dungeon.

Coordinating their movements in battle turned out to be much more difficult than while just walking, and as they tried to fight, the pairs kept tripping, and falling down. Before long, they were all very glad they hadn't fought in the Dare Room, where the Gray team could have seen their humiliation.

o-o-o-o

Later that evening, after the team had returned to the Red room, Marle stopped by. "I really enjoyed sleeping over the other night, so I was thinking it might be nice to do it again. What do you think?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Sure. Who do you want to sleep in the Gray Room? Crono and Robo, me and Ayla, or Serge and Leena?"

Marle blinked. "I hadn't thought about that. I had kind of hoped Kid might sleep over with me, but I want you, Leena and Crono to be here too. Guess that won't work tonight, huh?"

"'Fraid not. Why don't you wait until tomorrow night? We won't be tied together then."

"But, we'll be getting new dares tomorrow. What if they cause a problem with my sleeping over?"

"Like what?"

"Well... the night before last wouldn't have worked because you guys were doing all that role-playing. And last night, Kid couldn't because she was too embarrassed about her costume."

"True, but those were only for twenty-four hours. I suspect any dare that would interfere in our daily lives that badly will have a similar time limit."

"Hopefully..."

Marle headed back to the yard to enjoy the evening outside.

o-o-o-o

Getting ready for bed proved the greatest change yet for the Red team.

Leena and Serge were the first to claim the bathroom. They untied their feet, and took off their shoes and socks.

"I guess I'm going to skip my bath tonight, and wait until tomorrow to change my underwear..." Leena said, as Serge pulled off his shirt.

"Don't let me stop you."

"Thanks, but I think I will let you stop me, just the same. Now turn away while I change into my nightgown."

Serge nodded and turned away. He was a little disappointed they wouldn't be taking advantage of their situation, but decided not to make an issue of it.

"Don't worry, I won't watch you either," Leena said, as she turned away from Serge.

Serge pulled off his clothes, and began to put on clean clothes. He had just pulled on his clean shorts when temptation overcame him, and he glanced back at Leena. Unfortunately for him, Leena was looking in his direction.

"Serge, I told you not to look at me!" she said angrily.

Serge was able to pull his mind off of the fact that she was wearing only her panties and bra, enough to respond, "Well, you broke your word not to look at me!"

Leena opened her mouth as if to say something, but couldn't think of a good reply. Finally, she turned away and pulled on her nightgown. "Just finish getting changed, Serge."

He did that. Then they tied their feet together again, and taking their dirty clothes, left the bathroom. Neither of them said a word to each other as they deposited their dirty clothes in the hamper and headed into the bedroom.

The next pair to use the bathroom was Lucca and Ayla. Lucca wasn't about to let Ayla's presence stop her from taking a bath. After all, she reasoned, they were both girls... When Ayla commented on how flat-chested Lucca was, however, Lucca promptly told her not to look at her.

After Lucca had finished her bath, she insisted Ayla take one, as they would be sharing Lucca's bed again.

Lucca didn't want Ayla wearing her dirty furs to bed, either, so she showed Ayla how to wrap an oversized towel around herself, to keep covered.

After all this, Lucca almost forgot they needed to tie their feet back together, until Ayla reminded her.

The two of them headed straight for bed.

Finally, Crono and Robo went into the bathroom, and Crono changed into clean clothes.

As there was a spare bed tonight (the one Serge would normally sleep in), Crono and Robo took this bed (though Robo needed no sleep).

o-o-o-o

The Gray team stayed out as long as they could, until Vicks came by to tell them it was time for bed.

Once back in the Gray Room, their nightly routine proceeded as usual (though faster, as the night before, due to Pierre's absence).

o-o-o-o

"Leena, you still awake?" Serge whispered.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have looked at you."

She sighed. "I'm sorry too... It really isn't fair of me to hold you to standards I can't even maintain. But we should both try harder to do the proper thing. We can't let that sort of thing happen again."

"Agreed."

They were silent for a moment, then Leena giggled. "It was funny, though, seeing you with only your underwear on."

Serge thought about that. "I was funny, huh? Well, you weren't. You looked good."

"I should hope so," she replied.

They both stared into each other's eyes for a little while, then, without saying anything, kissed.

The kiss lasted a few moments; then they pulled apart.

After another pause, Leena whispered, "Goodnight, Serge."

"Goodnight, Leena."

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

_**Day Eight**_

In the morning, Leena woke up before Serge, thus discovering another problem with being tied to him- she couldn't get up until he did. And not only was Serge a late sleeper, but no matter what she did, she couldn't seem to get him to wake up.

Lucca did manage to wake up Ayla, and as they'd been sleeping next to each other all night, Ayla didn't even go berserk. They went and got changed, Ayla simply putting her old clothes back on.

Finally, with Ayla's help, they were able to get Serge up in time to get changed before breakfast.

When they got into the bathroom, Leena told Serge, "All right, this time we're going to try something different. We're going to get changed one at a time."

"Actually, I don't need to get changed."

"Oh. Well, anyway, I'm going to look in your direction while I change, so I'll know if you peek. And you better not, because if you do, I'll kill you!"

"Don't worry, I'll be a good boy."

Serge turned away, and Leena took off her nightgown. Then, trusting that Serge would be true to his word this time, she changed her bra and panties. Finally, she pulled on her dress.

"Alright, you can look now."

Leena put on her socks and sandals, and they tied their legs together again.

Once they got out of the bathroom, they teamed up with Lucca and Ayla to wake up Crono, and the team headed to get breakfast.

o-o-o-o

In the Gray Room, the team had to go without breakfast, as the Funhouse staff had yet to deliver the week's food.

o-o-o-o

After the Red team got back from breakfast, Marle stopped by to talk with Leena and Lucca. As this was boring for Serge, Crono, and Ayla, though, they explained how to play their game to her, and all played it as they talked.

After an hour or so, they started to get bored with their game, and Ayla convinced the rest of the Red team to do some more sparring. Marle was disappointed by this, but decided to go enjoy herself outdoors.

The team had made a bit of progress fighting in pairs the previous day, and they fought much better this time. In fact, after forty-five minutes or so of fighting (with some breaks thrown in), they were confident enough to challenge the Gray team to a group sparring match.

Marle and Kid weren't too hot about this idea, but decided to go along with it, not having anything better to do.

And so, the two teams faced off against each other in the Gray Room. Frog took on Crono, and Harle took on Robo. Marle and Lucca shot at each other from a distance, while Korcha grappled with Ayla. Kid, meanwhile, faced Serge and Leena alone.

If he had been allowed to use his magic, Crono would have most likely have proved superior to Frog in battle, but the players rarely allowed magic in their sparring sessions, and as usual, this one was strictly weapons-only. Crono was a good swordsman, but not as good as Frog, and Crono found himself fighting a loosing battle.

The first player to fall, however, was Korcha, who, despite having done a bit of training, was still one of the weaker fighters.

Next, Marle struck a "fatal" blow to Lucca (with a suction-cup arrow). Unable to simply surrender, as she was tied to Ayla, Lucca instead played dead. Ayla took Lucca's limp form in her left arm, and charged at Marle. Marle tried to shoot her, but Ayla dodged, and took the fight in close, where Marle was at a disadvantage. Despite being encumbered by Lucca, Ayla managed to beat Marle.

After a bit more fighting, Harle was also defeated. Her defeat left Robo open to help Crono fight Frog. Even working together, though, Robo and Crono found Frog quite a challenge.

Meanwhile, Serge and Leena had been doing reasonably well against Kid (despite having some difficulty coordinating their movements), but then Kid managed to "knock out" Leena. This greatly handicapped Serge, and before long, Kid beat him as well.

Finally, with great difficulty, Crono and Robo overcame Frog.

Frog complimented them on their victory. "Thou hast fought most well. Thou art worthy adversaries."

Harle agreed. "Even tied together, zey were able to beat us! Zis iz quite ze feat."

Marle commented, "Well, what do you expect? Red team has more powerful fighters than us. I'm more impressed with Kid. You actually managed to beat Serge and Leena on your own?"

"Yeah, well, they didn't have the best teamwork. Rather ironic considering that they claim to want to spend their lives together."

Serge held up his hands. "Hey, I never said that!"

Leena scowled. "You mean you don't want to spend your life with me?"

"That's not what I meant! I just meant we aren't engaged. I like you a lot, but it's too soon to make that sort of decision."

Leena didn't look too happy about this.

As the Red team headed back to the Red room, Kid smiled thoughtfully.

o-o-o-o

At lunchtime, while the Red team was at the cafeteria, Wedge and Piette came by the Gray Room with the week's junk food supply.

Kid told her teammates, "We're going to have to ration the food this time, so we don't come so close to running out." She glanced at Marle meaningfully, and Marle smiled sheepishly.

o-o-o-o

At One, the players all gathered in the Dare room.

Bekkler greeted them. "Welcome back. As you know, it's time for the round two Bonus Dare. But first, Red team, you may untie yourselves, and Harle, you may stop feigning amnesia."

"T'ank you," Harle replied. Meanwhile, the Red team untied themselves.

"Now, Wedge and Piette will pass out your voting cards, so you can vote on whether Harle played her role properly."

They all voted, and the votes were tallied.

"Harle, your performance got seven out of eleven votes. Considering that you needed at least six votes to win the dare, this was a close call for you. Regardless, your sixty-six points are safe, for now.

"...Now, it's time for the Dares! We'll need a representative from each team. Robo and Harle, as the highest ranking players from each team in the previous individual challenge, you'll be the representatives... Which is ironic, considering you're the players performing serial dares, and thus unaffected by what you spin right now..."

Robo came up, and spun a Jack.

"Ooo, bad luck, Red team. If you recall, the Jack means that you skip the dare."

As Robo stepped back to let Harle spin the wheel, Lucca whispered to him, "Couldn't you have calculated how much force to apply to the wheel to get a better spot?"

"Affirmative. However, I was under the impression the dares were supposed to be chosen randomly."

"That's what they want, but if it was against the rules to try and get a specific spot, I think they would have said."

"Very well then. Next time I shall ask your advice on what to spin for."

"Er... maybe we should ask the team about that..."

Meanwhile, Harle spun a II- Costumes.

"So, Gray team, you will all have to wear the same costume, if you want to win points for your team. I should mention, costume dares are performed until one receives a new costume dare, or is asked to remove an article of clothing essential to the costume.

"...If you'd place your bets? Oh, and Kid, as you currently have no points, you'll automatically get six for accepting."

While the Gray team did that, Bekkler turned back to Robo.

"Robo, if you'd pick a card, we can determine what body part to turn to plastic next."

Robo picked the card, "right foot."

"Do you accept?"

"Affirmative."

Bekkler then turned back to the Gray team.

"All done? Good. Now, Harle, if you'd spin the wheel again to determine what costume your team-mates will be wearing?"

Harle spun a 6-b: "snake person (Naga-ette)."

"For those of you who might not be sure what a snake-person costume would look like, let me explain. A snake person is sort of like a mermaid, only with a snake tail instead of a fish tail. The costume is thus comprised of a snake tail to put your legs in, and a bikini top for the women, if they want it. As with any costume, while wearing this, you won't be able to wear your normal clothes."

Kid raised her hand. "So, this snake tail, is it like a skirt? Or..."

"No. There is no hole for your feet, and it will fit rather snugly."

"I see."

"If we can move on now, why don't you reveal your bets, and whether or not you accept?"

Frog held up his hand. "A moment, please?" He turned to his teammates. "I do not wish to be responsible for our team failing in our dare, but methinks this dare is not worth the points we would receive."

Kid nodded. "Considering we'll probably have plenty more chances to earn points, I'd have to agree. I ain't makin' a fool of myself for days on end for no good reason, and if that costume is as restrictive as he says, it would make winning future challenges a lot more difficult."

"I agree," Korcha said.

Marle shrugged. "You guys do what you want. I'm still going to do it. Crazy stuff like this **is **the point of the game, after all."

"Fine."

Frog turned back to Bekkler, and revealed his bet: three points, which, with his refusal, took him down to seven points.

Then Marle revealed her bet: six points, taking her up to sixteen.

Korcha had bet two, which took him down to seven.

Finally, as Kid had started the Bonus Dare game with no points, by refusing the costume, she stayed at zero.

Bekkler now had Harle spin for her next role to play. She spun a 7-a: act like the opposite gender.

"Zo, now I am a man, yes? Very good. In zat case, you should call me `Quin'," Harle said in a voice which somehow sounded more masculine, despite not being all that different from her normal speaking voice.

Bekkler turned to Robo. "Ready to have your foot turned to plastic?"

"Affirmative."

Bekkler waved his hands, and in a puff of smoke, Robo's right foot turned plastic.

Bekkler clapped his hands. "Well, that's that. Marle, you should head to the supply room to get your costume, and I'll see all of you again tomorrow. Until then, enjoy yourselves." Bekkler floated away.

Marle turned to the others. "Well, I'll see you guys in a little bit."

As Marle started to walk towards the supply room, Harle called out, "I'll be waiting for you, beautiful!"

* * *

Will the Gray team come to regret refusing their team dare? Or will Marle regret her choice to wear the costume? And what shall the newly re-christened "Quin" do to prove "his" masculinity? The chaos continues, in the next episode of the Funhouse!


	11. Episode Nine

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

Episode Nine  
Round Two Part Two

Previously: The Gray team enjoyed their prize for winning the team challenge, access to the Funhouse yard. Meanwhile, the Red Team coped with being tied together in pairs. Finally, in the Bonus Dare Game, Robo spun a Jack for the Red team, depriving them of the opportunity to gain points, while the Gray team all refused their dare to wear a snake-person costume, except for Marle.

* * *

Character Scoreboard

**Red Team** (Team points: 12):

_**Crono:  
**_Points: 10

_**Lucca:  
**_Points: 9

_**Robo:  
**_(Serial Dare X: "Metamorphosis" into action figure.)  
Conditions: Head & right foot plastic  
Points: 72

_**Ayla:  
**_Points: 12

_**Serge:  
**_Points: 8

_**Leena:  
**_Points: 6

.

**Gray Team** (team points: 0):

_**Frog:  
**_Points: 7

_**Marle:  
**_Clothing: ...(Soon to change into snake-woman costume with bikini top)  
Conditions: latex bracelets  
Points: 16

_**Korcha:  
**_Points: 7

_**Kid:  
**_Points: 0

_**Harle:  
**_(Serial Dare VI: "Identity Crisis")  
Conditions: act like a man (until next bonus)  
Points: 66

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

_**Day Eight Continued:**_

Marle walked into the Supply room.

"Hi, Marian."

"Hello, Marle. Come for your costume?"

"Why else?"

"Alright. I'll need to take some measurements." Marian took out a tape measure, and measured the length of Marle's legs, the size of her feet, and the size of her waist. Then Marian had Marle put her legs together, and measured the distance around them at various points. Finally, Marian asked for Marle's bra size.

With that information, Marian headed off to see if they had a costume in Marle's size.

Marle tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for Marian. Finally, after about eight minutes, Marian returned, carrying some folded clothes in her arms, green and brown.

"Well, it took a little bit of searching, but I found a snake-person tail and a top to fit you. If you want you can try to change into it yourself, but you'll probably have a hard time getting the tail on- these things have to be tight to keep them from falling off. Besides, a wrinkly snake person or mermaid just wouldn't look right."

"All right. I'll try, and if it doesn't work, you can help me."

As she handed Marle the costume, Marian told Marle, "By the way, you'll need to keep the tail on at all times, except when you're washing up, using the toilet, or changing your panties. It's the essential part of the costume, after all. The top, on the other hand, is optional, not that I can imagine why you'd want to go without it."

Marle smiled. "Yeah, I don't think so." Marle took the costume and panties and headed to the changing room.

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, Harle changed her own costume. The costume she changed into was quite similar to her normal costume, but lacked her usual outfit's armored bra.

When she returned to the main Gray room, Korcha eagerly stared at her chest, hoping that he'd without a bra they would bounce a bit and maybe even show the outline of her nipples. However, to his disappointment her breasts were so small they did not noticeably move around at all, and her costume was thick enough to not show her nipples at all.

Kid was disgusted when she noticed Korcha's line of sight. "Pervert," she muttered to herself.

o-o-o-o

In the changing room, Marle unfolded the costume and looked at it. The snake tail was green, with a pale underside, while the bikini appeared to be brown leather, and wasn't as skimpy as Marle had feared. In fact, it was more like a small tank top than a bikini.

She took off all her clothes, except the latex bracelets, her pendant, her hair-band, and her panties.

She then tried to squeeze her legs into the snake tail. Luckily, it had a zipper, and she had thin legs, so she was able to do it herself. Still, it was a tight fit- tighter than Marle had expected. Her legs were squashed together, and in order to pull it up high enough to cover her panties, she had to wedge her feet into it. The end of the tail was long enough that there was still room for her toes, but it was narrow, too narrow for her feet to lie flat next to each other. Instead they were partially bent, the soles inward (but not completely touching), so when she stood, it was on the side of her feet (which made balancing a chore).

She zipped it up, and found that the upper end of the tail was as tight as the lower end. There really wasn't much chance of it coming off. In fact, it was so tight that she couldn't move her legs separately at all. Not that that would have done her much good, as without a hole for her feet, walking was impossible. It seemed that while she wore this costume, hopping and crawling would be her only ways of getting around.

She grabbed her clothes, and tried to hop carefully to the door. But as she hopped, the end of the tail (which was partially stuffed) got under her feet, and she lost her balance. She fell face-first against the door, then collapsed to the floor.

Marian called out, "Are you all right?"

Sitting up, Marle moaned, "Yeah, I think so. It's hard to keep your balance in this costume."

"I should think so- it wasn't really meant for standing in."

"So how am I supposed to get around? Crawl?"

"That's right. Don't worry, the underside of the costume is designed to withstand being dragged around on the floor. It's even padded, to make it a little easier on your knees."

_It isn't the costume I'm worried about- it's my dignity!_ Marle thought.

Not wanting to risk another fall, Marle slid her legs around and maneuvered into a kneeling position. Then, she reached up and opened the door, and crawled out of the dressing room.

Looking up at Marian, Marle complained, "This isn't quite what I'd expected."

"I'm sorry to hear that. You can still quit the dare, if you're willing to loose your bet."

"No, I'll try it a bit longer."

"Alright. You'll have to take off your bracelets, headband, and pendant, though."

"Huh? Why?"

"You're not supposed to wear any of your regular clothes along with the costumes, except for underclothes if they won't be seen."

"Oh. Now that you mention it, I think Bekkler might have mentioned something like that." She took off her pendant, then reached for her hair-band. "You know, real Naga-ettes wear hair-bands," she pointed out.

"They do...? Well, I don't think our costume designer was specifically thinking of Naga-ettes, he was more just aiming for snake people in general. At any rate, a hair-band wasn't included in the costume, so you can't wear yours."

"If you insist." Marle pulled out her hair band, letting her hair fall down around her shoulders. She put them with her other clothes, then reached for one of her bracelets. Marian stopped her.

"Why don't you have your boyfriend tear them off? I hear it's supposed to be really sexy."

"You think? I don't see why that would be."

"Beats me. Maybe it has something to do with suddenly being without an article of clothing. Or maybe we're missing something. Why don't you try it and let me know?"

"Oh, what the heck. Couldn't hurt..." Marle picked up her clothes in one hand, and began pulling herself across the floor with the other.

Marian walked over to the door and opened it for her. "Good luck!"

"Thanks," Marle said, somewhat dryly, as she crawled down the hall.

o-o-o-o

"Man! Ya have crawl everywhere, Marle?" Kid asked.

"I tried hopping, but I lost my balance. Hurt my head in the fall, too."

"That bites. Ya alright?"

"Yeah, fine. Got a lot worse in battle."

Kid nodded. "Sure glad I ain't wearin' that costume. I wouldn't be able ta stand crawlin' everywhere."

Marle gave an uncomfortable smile. "I'm a bit embarrassed about it myself. This is really below my dignity. If my father saw me..."

"Then why are ya doin' it?"

Marle shrugged. "I expected the Funhouse to be crazy. I think once I get use to this, it'll be fun. So, I'll just wait a little while and see."

"Hmmm..."

Marle put her clothes in the hamper, except for her hair-band and pendant, which she put in her dresser. Then she crawled over to the Red Room to find Crono.

Lucca started laughing when she saw Marle. "I can't believe you're wearing that!"

"Gee, thanks," Marle said dryly.

"Are you able to stand up?" Leena asked curiously.

"Sort of..." Marle pulled her legs forward and balanced on her feet in a crouch, before carefully straitening up.

Leena looked closely at Marle's "tail". "Wow, that's pretty snug all right. I can't believe you even got it on."

"It has a zipper," Marle explained.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "So, what made you decide to put your hair down?"

"I had to. I'm not allowed to wear anything but the costume and underclothes. I'm going to have to take off these bracelets, too- which reminds me, do you know where Crono is?"

"He went to the Dungeon with Serge and Ayla to do some more sparring. Leena and I have had enough for one day, so we didn't bother to join them."

Marle nodded. She turned her head towards the door, then said in a frustrated voice, "Do you think you could go get him for me? I don't want to have to crawl all that way and back."

Lucca adjusted her glasses again. "I suppose I could. I'm not going to be able to run all your errands for you, though. Why do you want him, anyway?"

Marle explained what Marian had said about the latex.

"So, let me get this straight. You want me to go get Crono so you can, essentially, make-out with him?"

"I suppose you could put it that way. Is that a problem?"

Lucca folded her arms. "I told you before, just because you two got married in this future, doesn't mean you have to get married in our future. And Crono's just too good a catch for me to give up without a fight."

Marle put her hands on her hips. "That's fine with me. I always liked a good challenge."

"That being the case, you really can't expect me to help you pursue him, can you?"

"I suppose not." Marle turned. "Leena?"

Leena smiled. "Are you asking me to take sides?"

Marle sighed. "Fine, I'll go get him myself. I just hope he appreciates it."

Leena chuckled. "I'm sure he will."

o-o-o-o

When Marle entered the Dungeon, the three stopped fighting to stare at her.

Ayla shuddered. "Ayla hope no have to wear costume Marle wear. Ayla no like not be able move free."

Serge nodded, agreeing with her.

Crono smiled at her kindly. "You look good."

"You really think so? I mean, this snake tail isn't too weird? It makes me feel like a Naga-ette - even if they normally wear their hair in ponytails."

Crono shrugged.

Marle looked to Ayla and Serge. "Do you two think you could go spar somewhere else? I have something I want to talk about with Crono, and I don't want to have to crawl all the way back to the apartments."

Serge nodded, and he and Ayla headed out to the Dare room.

Once Serge and Ayla had left, Marle explained again what Marian had said.

"So, do you want to do it?" Marle asked.

Crono nodded. He knelt down in front of her, and took her left arm in his hands. He then got a good grip on the latex bracelet on her wrist, and pulled on it. It stretched a bit before finally tearing.

Marle flexed her wrist, and raised her eyebrows. "Hmm... well, go on."

Crono now took her right arm, and slid his hands up it to the bracelet on her upper arm. He tore this off too, then finally moved down to her wrist and tore that bracelet off.

"Huh. I don't get it. That didn't seem all that special to me. Did it turn **you** on, Crono?"

"A little. It would have been better if there had been more."

"You think? Well, we'll have to try this again, once this dare's over- assuming it does end before the game does. Man! I sure hope it does! I'd hate to be crawling around like this for the next few weeks!"

o-o-o-o

Crono and Marle left the dungeon together. Crono watched for a few moments as Marle crawled along beside him, trying to keep up. Finally, he stopped, knelt down and picked her up.

"Hey! What are you-" Marle said as he picked her up.

Supporting her back under his left arm, and her "tail" under his right, he began walking to the dare room.

"You don't have to do this, Crono. Even if I can't walk in this costume, I can still get around."

Crono smiled.

"Well, thanks, anyway. This is a lot better than crawling around."

When they got to the dare room, Crono asked, "Where to?"

"Um, I think I want to go outside."

Crono took her to the door of the yard. Then he put her down and opened the door for her.

"Oh, yeah, you can't come out here... Well, I'll see you later..." she said reluctantly.

Marle crawled over to the lounge-chair, and pulled herself up onto it.

Frog was in the pool, and he got out to take a good look at her costume. "How strange."

Crono stood at the door watching Marle for a moment, then headed back to the dare room to rejoin Serge and Ayla. Rather than moving back to the Dungeon, they continued their sparring match there.

A few minutes later, Harle showed up. "Would you mind if I joined you? Zere does not seem to be much to do in zis Funhouse, and I don't want to get rusty."

Serge shrugged, and Crono nodded agreeably.

o-o-o-o

Marle tried to go about her day's business as best she could, and for the most part having to crawl everywhere didn't interfere too much- it just took her a little bit longer to get around. Probably the worst part of it was everyone staring at her, especially when she was just passing by. She was sure many of them were laughing at her behind her back.

Determined not to let this get to her, she fell back on her training in royal poise and grace to act as dignified as she could under the circumstances. She held her head up and her shoulders square as she crawled about, as if her costume were royal robes, and crawling was the proper mode of locomotion for a princess.

She wasn't quite able to make the others see it that way, but her lack of self-consciousness did lessen the badly concealed amusement the others got at the sight of her.

o-o-o-o

That evening, Marle asked Kid, "So, you want to sleep over in the Red Room tonight?"

"You'd want to do that, even wearing that costume?"

"Sure. I'm not going to let a silly dare like this stop me."

"Well, if that's how you feel, sure. It'd give me an excuse to get away from Harle. Or should I say, `Quin'. I thought she was bad enough as a girl! But at least as a girl, she didn't try to hit on me."

Marle giggled. "She was hitting on you, too? She sure is a shameless guy."

o-o-o-o

Ayla and Robo agreed to spend the night in the Gray Room.

Marle enjoyed the bath more than last time, since this time it meant she was able to take off the snake tail and move her legs around.

When she was done and dried, she reluctantly pulled the tail back on.

When Marle got out, Kid took a bath as well.

Then it was time to figure out the sleeping arrangements.

Leena still didn't want anybody sleeping with her or Serge, and she wasn't comfortable about sharing a bed with him, either.

Lucca pointed out, "But Leena, you two slept in the same bed last night."

Leena got a bit red. "That was different. We didn't have a choice."

Kid said, "Well, I intend on sleepin' in a bed tonight, so ya better figure something out if ya want me to stay."

Marle said, "Come on, Leena, it wouldn't hurt you and Serge to share the same bed again tonight."

"No. It just wouldn't look right."

"To who? There's no one else here but us, and we know you wouldn't do anything naughty."

Leena just looked at her, her expression unchanging.

Marle threw up her hands. "Fine. Kid, you can sleep with Lucca, and I'll find somewhere else to sleep. Maybe I'll be able to get to sleep on the chair in the main room. I don't know."

Crono offered, "You can take the couch. I'll take the chair."

Everyone agreed to this. They didn't go to bed right away, though. Instead, they stayed up late talking and playing games (they even got in a pillow fight).

After a while the others in the room got used to seeing Marle in her costume, and even stopped really noticing it. However, it continued to be an inconvenience for Marle (though she did manage to enjoy the novelty of her handicap).

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

_**Day Nine**_

Finally, the players in the Red Room grew too tired to really enjoy themselves, and called it a night.

o-o-o-o

In the morning, Marle and Kid enjoyed the Red Room's tub once more, then headed back to the Gray room for breakfast, while the Red team headed to the Cafeteria.

o-o-o-o

Later that morning, Ayla took the Red team to the dungeon to continue their unarmed combat training.

o-o-o-o

Harle, as "Quin", asked Kid, Leena, Lucca, and Marle if they would like to be her girlfriend (Ayla was busy sparring when Harle made the rounds), but none of them were interested in a member of their own sex, and only Marle was willing to pretend "Quin" was a guy. But even so, she wouldn't date "Quin".

"Sorry, Quin. I like you, and I think you're cute, but I already have a boyfriend."

o-o-o-o

As for Marle, as the morning passed, she finally began to feel she had the hang of moving around as a snake-woman, and started to truly enjoy herself. Now she didn't even need her royal dignity to act as if there were nothing strange about crawling around on her tail. She even became so self-confident that she was able to be amused in turn by the people (such as Korcha) who still thought her costume was a laughing matter.

o-o-o-o

And then One O'clock came around, and it was time for the Elimination Challenge. Both teams were told to gather out on the lawn, despite the fact that the Red team wasn't usually allowed out there.

Before Vicks left, Marle asked, "By the way, I assume I can change out of this costume for the Challenge?"

"Sure, if you want to forfeit the dare."

"What? You mean I even have to wear this during Challenges?" Marle (kneeling at that point) put her hands on her hips in protest.

"Unless the Challenge calls for a different costume, yes. And this challenge is come-as-you-are."

"That stinks! How am I supposed to win challenges if I can't even walk around?"

Vicks shrugged. "Didn't Bekkler or Marian explain you'd have to wear the costume at all times?"

"Well, yeah, but I thought..." She sighed. "Oh, never mind."

o-o-o-o

When they had all gathered in the yard, Bekkler came and greeted them. "Well, folks, now it's time for the Round Two Elimination Challenge. As you know, one person who forfeits this challenge, or the person who fares the worst in it, shall need to perform extra dares to recruit players to rescue him or her from being Evicted. If the endangered player should refuse all of the dares, or the player's chosen champions fail, the player shall have to leave the Funhouse. Meanwhile, the winner of the challenge will get six points.

"This game shall be a simple one, one you may have played before- a sack race. Each of you shall stick your legs in a sack, and holding it up with your hands, hop to the far wall and back. The player who does this the fastest wins, the one who does it the slowest looses.

"Does anyone wish to forfeit?"

No one did, so Vicks and Wedge began passing out the sacks.

Marle commented, "I almost don't need a sack- I already can't walk."

"So you should be pretty good at this," Lucca commented.

Marle laughed nervously. "Yes, well, maybe if I had taken any time to practice hopping in this costume..."

As the race course was too narrow for all of them to race at once, Bekkler told them each team would race separately. Afterwards, the times of the fastest and slowest in each team would be compared to determine the fastest and slowest overall.

They flipped a coin to determine which team would go first, and Red won.

The Red team gathered at the starting line, and Bekkler started the race. The six of them began hopping out toward the wall.

Ayla was the fastest and most agile of the team, so she was the first back. Robo finished soon after, thanks to his precision coordination and mechanical speed. Next came Lucca, followed by Crono and Serge, who had fallen down a few times along the way. Leena fell down many times, and wasn't particularly fast, so she was the last member of the team back.

Overall, the Gray team fared much better. Frog had been hopping everywhere for years, so this Challenge was child's-play for him. Harle and Korcha were agile and coordinated, so they both made it back soon after. Kid fell down a few times, but did reasonably good time.

However, Marle's lack of practice hopping in her costume prove a major handicap. Long after the others had made it back, she was still near the far wall, having fallen down almost every other hop.

Finally, Bekkler looked at his watch and told her, "Marle, you've now taken longer than Leena, which makes you the slowest player."

Marle sighed. "I was afraid of this. Well, I don't mind having to do more dares, I just hope my champions come through, 'cause I'm not ready to leave yet!"

Bekkler now compared the team's times, and declared Frog the winner. (His points rose to thirteen.)

They players headed back to the dare room, where Marle would spin for her dares.

"So, Marle, who would you like as your champions?"

"Well, from what Harle said about the Rescue challenge, it sounded a lot like the third of your games from the Millennial fair."

"That's correct."

"Well, Crono's had a bit of practice with that, so I'll choose him. ...Hmm... who else...? Well, we want good aim for throwing or kicking the rocks, so I guess I'll go with Lucca and Harle."

"Very well then. Crono, Lucca, and Harle. If you spin the wheel, we can find out what you'll need to do to recruit them."

Marle spun the wheel, and got a joker.

"Huh?"

"That means to recruit Crono, you'll have to perform a Special Dare- they are much harder than normal dares."

"Oh great."

"If you'll spin again to determine the category of Special Dare?"

She spun again, and got a I- Clothing. Bekkler then told her to spin the mini-wheel. She got an A.

On the board, the chalk wrote, "I-Special A: Nude (24 hours)."

Marle stared at it. "...What...?"

"I told you the special dares were more challenging than normal dares. If you want Crono as one of your champions, you'll have to spend the next twenty-four hours completely naked."

"…You've got to be kidding me."

Lucca scowled at Bekkler, who spread his hands as if to say he had nothing to do with this.

"Um... er... well..." Marle floundered.

Bekkler told her, "If you want, you can spin for your other dares, and see whether you'll be able to get Lucca or Harle on your team."

Marle looked relived to have this decision delayed. "Good idea." She spun the wheel again, and got another Joker. "Hey!" She looked at Bekkler accusingly.

"I don't have any control over where the wheel lands. The only one with any control over that is the person who spins the wheel."

Serge commented to Leena, "This reminds me of something that happened to me once. There was this pirate that settled all sorts of disagreements by challenging people to a game that involved a compass pointer you had to stop at the right time. The only problem was the pirate had the compass rigged."

"Yeah, well, the Dragoons did check this place over. I think everything's on the up-and-up. I can't believe they have a dare about going nude, though! If I had known they had dares like this, I don't think I would have signed up for the Funhouse."

"Are you saying you want to leave?"

"Well... not yet. But if I ever get a dare like that there's no way I'm doing it. ...Oh! And if she does decide to take off her clothes, you're staying in the Red Room until she puts them back on. I don't want to even chance you getting a glimpse of her."

Meanwhile, Marle spun the wheel again to determine the category of her second special dare. She got a IV-Special B: "Full Body Cast (24 hours)".

Bekkler elaborated. "That means, we would encase your entire body below the neck in a fiberglass cast. In effect, you would be immobilized for the next twenty-four hours. (We'd use plaster, but fiberglass is stronger, and doesn't take as long to dry completely.)"

Marle stared at him in hopeless disbelief.

Kid commented, "Look on the bright side. If your body is covered in fiberglass, no one will be able to see that you're naked."

Bekkler coughed. "Actually, if Marle were to accept both dares, we would have to leave... _*ahem*_ -shall we say, `certain body-parts'- ...uncovered."

Marle gave a tense sigh. "So I either need to go nude, be covered in fiberglass, or trust my rescue to Harle- who failed to save Pierre." Marle gave another sigh, this one resigned. "Well, I suppose I might as well find out what I need to do to get **her** on my team."

Marle spun a Jack.

Bekkler chuckled. "Oh-ho! A freebie! It turns out you don't have to do anything to get Harle on your team- she's automatically recruited."

"Well, that's a relief," Marle said, though she didn't sound relieved. "Now I have to decide between walking around naked for a day, or not moving at all. There's no way I'm doing both, but I have to get at least one other person to try and rescue me." She looked at Crono and Lucca. Then, glancing at Harle, she added, "No offense, Quin, it's just that I don't want to take any chances here."

"None taken, mademoiselle. I would hate to be responsible for you being forced to leave ze game."

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Glad I'm not in your position, Marle! All I can say is, don't do anything you're going to regret later."

Marle "Hmm"d, and put her hand to her chin in thought. Finally, after a few moments, she gave another sigh, and said, "I don't particularly like being helpless, but it's better than running around without any clothes on- and I don't want to leave the Funhouse just yet. I'll go with the body cast."

Bekkler nodded. "Very well. Lucca and Harle shall be your champions. But first you have half an hour to pack and say your good-byes, in case they fail."

"Right. I don't have to start my dare until we get back from the challenge, do I?"

"Of course not. It would be a waste of money to make you a cast only to discover you were leaving anyway. Besides, it would be pretty hard for you to pack if you couldn't move."

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "He's got a point."

Marle rolled her eyes.

Bekkler added, "Oh, you might as well change out of your costume. You'll want to be in your normal clothes if you have to leave, and if you stay, you'll need to take the costume off anyway, so the staff can cast you properly."

"Okay..."

Bekkler clasped his hands together. "Well then, Marle, I'll see you in a half an hour." He floated off.

Everyone else just stood there, at a loss for words. Marle exchanged glances with each of them, except Serge and Korcha, whom she hadn't established close ties with yet.

Finally, Marle said, "Well, I better get packing." She turned, and began to crawl down the hall, but Crono came up behind her and picked her up.

"Let me give you a hand."

"Oh! Thanks."

Behind them, Lucca crossed her arms and scowled.

o-o-o-o

A half an hour later, Marle said her good-byes. She saved Crono for last.

"This is in case we don't see each other again for a while." She embraced him and kissed him on the lips.

The two stayed standing there kissing for a minute or two, until Lucca cleared her throat in impatience. "Don't we need to get going, Marle?"

Marle and Crono broke off the kiss.

"Oh, right." Marle gave Crono one more peck on the lips, let go of him, grabbed her bags, and headed to the door to the Maze, where Piette waited to lead her, Lucca, and Harle to the Lobby.

o-o-o-o

When they got to the Lobby, Bekkler was waiting for them. He explained the rules of the Challenge again, then Marle was tied up and hoisted above one of the Lobby's false flames. Lucca and Harle assumed their positions behind the piles of stones, and Bekkler opened the barred cell gate, allowing the three Poyozo monsters to come into the room.

The monsters began to advance toward Lucca and Harle, who started throwing the stones at the beasts to drive them back.

Whenever Marle was lowered close to the fire, Lucca would run over to hit the blue button, while Harle held the monsters off.

The two girls had a hard time working together, and there were a few close calls, but in the end, they managed to drive the monsters back through the door.

Bekkler clapped his hands. "Good job!"

Lucca and Harle gave a cheer, and hugged each other. "We did it!"

Harle kissed Lucca. Lucca's eyes widened, and she pulled away from Harle. "What do think you're doing?"

"My apologies, mademoiselle Lucca. I just got carried away."

Marle was placed back on the floor and released. "Whew! Thanks guys!"

Lucca laughed. "No puny monsters can challenge the great Lucca!"

Bekkler told them. "Marle you're free to stay in the Funhouse for another round- assuming you can stand being in a full body cast for twenty-four hours, of course."

Marle rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me."

Harle told her, "Do not worry, Mademoiselle Marle. I shall keep you company while you are performing your dare- if you would like me to, that is."

"Sure, why not?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "You know, I'm glad you're going to be staying with us longer, but there is a downside to our winning this challenge."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, according to the rule-book Bekkler gave us when we signed up, when a round goes by without anyone being evicted, the threat of eviction is passed on to the next round. In other words, next round, two people will have to be rescued."

Marle turned to Bekkler. "Is that true?"

Bekkler nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"How come you never mentioned it before?"

Bekkler said apologetically, "I have enough to explain each time I see you guys. I figured I'd explain it when it became relevant."

Marle turned to Lucca. "And what's your excuse?"

"Hey, I told you **now**, didn't I? It's not my fault you never bothered to read the rule-book."

"I tried to, but it was too hard to follow."

Bekkler interrupted them. "Well, good luck with your dare, Marle, and I'll see you all tomorrow." He then floated off, and Piette led them back to the apartments.

* * *

Will Marle be able to stand not being able to move for twenty-four hours? And what new challenges await the players in Round Three? Find out in the next insane episode of The Funhouse!


	12. Episode Ten

Author's Note for "someone": I thought I should point out, Marle's cast will not leave anything exposed, except her head (the option with bits exposed was only if she chose both the cast AND the nudity). As for the rest of your review, I'll address it after the chapter.

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

Episode Ten

Round Two Part Three

Previously: Marle got used to wearing her snake-person costume, and Harle pretended to be a man, sparring with the guys, and hitting on the girls. Marle lost the Eviction challenge, and to recruit Lucca to come to her rescue, Marle had to agree to spend a day in a full-body fiberglass cast. Luckily, Marle didn't have to do anything to recruit Harle. Despite their lack of teamwork, Lucca and Harle managed to rescue Marle- but now Marle must come through on her dare!

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

**Character Scoreboard:**

**Red Team: **(Team points: 12)  
Team Prizes: Cafeteria access.

**Crono**:  
Points: 10

**Lucca**:  
Points: 9

**Robo**:  
Conditions: Head & right foot plastic;  
Points: 72

**Ayla**:  
Points: 12

**Serge**:  
Points: 8

**Leena**:  
Points: 5

.

**Gray Team: **(team points: 0)  
Team prizes: Yard access

**Frog**:  
Points: 13

**Marle**:  
Clothing/Conditions: Currently wearing her normal clothes. Dared to wear a full-body cast for 24 hours.  
Points: 16

**Korcha**:  
Points: 7

**Kid**:  
Points: 0

**Harle**:  
Points: 66  
Conditions: act like a man.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

**Day Nine (Continued)**

When Marle, Lucca, and Harle got back, they found Crono waiting for them by the door. Seeing them, he smiled and gave a sigh of relief.

Marle smiled back and nodded. "Lucca and Harle- I mean, Quin- came through for me."

Crono looked at Lucca and Harle, and said, "Good work."

Marle brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Of course, now I have to go to the Supply room and get plastered up."

Crono nodded. On impulse, he added, "I'll come with you. -If you want."

"What? You will? ...Okay."

Lucca said abruptly, "If Crono's coming, so am I."

"Fine. You can both watch me get turned into a statue," Marle said with a confused mixture of embarrassment and gratitude. "Let me put my stuff back first."

o-o-o-o

Crono and Lucca accompanied Marle back to the Gray Room, and helped her unpack. While she was there, she put her bracelets, pendant, and hair-band back in with her clothes. She then grabbed her Snake-woman costume, and she, Crono, and Lucca headed for the Supply room.

Marian, Anar, and Reton greeted them there.

"So you managed to survive your Rescue challenge. Congratulations."

"Thanks... I think."

"I assume, Marle, you've come here to get your body cast. But what are you two doing here?" Marian asked.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Moral support."

Crono added, "We can help apply the fiberglass, too."

Marle looked at him. "Oh, that's what you had in mind." She giggled.

Lucca scowled at Crono, and Crono smiled and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

Turning back to Marian, Marle told her, "I would be more comfortable with them doing it than with Anar and Reton. -No offense!" she added, looking at the men.

"None taken," Reton said, but Anar looked, if not offended, at the very least, disappointed.

Marian nodded. "That works. Come with me, you three."

They went to another section of the room, closed off from the entrance area. In the smaller room was a bucket of water, packages of fiberglass, and other casting materials.

"Now, before we start, I should ask you, Marle, what color cast would you like?" Marian said.

"What color?"

"Yes. We have several different colors of fiberglass: white, black, pink, blue, green, purple, and orange."

"Oh. Um… Well, I usually wear white, so I suppose I'll go with that…"

Marian nodded, and got out several packages of white fiberglass. She also got out some folded-up fabric, which she handed to Marle. "Here. Take off your clothes, and put these on."

"Huh? What are these?"

"Stockinette. It protects your skin from the fiberglass, and helps form a base for the cast."

"Oh… okay. Um… maybe the rest of you could step out for a moment?" They all agreed to do so.

As she left, Marian also got out an adult-sized diaper. "You might as well put this on before the stockinette."

"What…? …Oh." Marle gulped. "I… I guess I'll be needing that, huh?"

Marian nodded. "Unless you want to hold everything in all day, or have us leave a hole in the cast so your friends can help you use the rest-room."

Marle blushed. "Right. Well, I guess this isn't **so** bad…" She looked down at the diaper with a look of mild disgust.

o-o-o-o

A few minutes later, Marle called them back in. Instead of her normal baggy white pants and top, she now wore long stockinette pants and a long sleeved stockinette shirt.

Marian tied Marle's hair back, then adjusted the stockinette some, pulling it as tight as possible, and making sure it came out beyond Marle's toes and fingers. She then got out several rolls of cotton padding, and, handing a roll each to Crono and Lucca, explained, "To add to the barrier between fiberglass and skin, and to help make the cast more comfortable, we need to wrap this over you, Marle." When Marle nodded at this, Marian continued, to Crono and Lucca, "Focus especially on bony areas, such as the ankles, knees, elbows, and such."

Crono nodded, and he, Lucca, and Marian set to work. Marle had to smile—getting all this attention was nice, and the cotton was soft and rather comfortable.

When they had finished this, Marian said, "I'm assuming you'll be continuing your costume dare?"

"Well, I have to, if I don't want to loose points, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, then you'll need to put your legs together, then, so we'll be able to get the snake tail over them. You'll also need to decide what position you want to stay in for the next twenty-four hours. It might be better not to stand, since once the fiberglass dries, you'll have no way to keep your balance."

"That's a good point." After a little bit of thinking, Marle decided to kneel.

Marian donned some rubber gloves, and opened up a package of fiberglass. To Crono and Lucca, she added, "You'll want to wear gloves working with this—it can be rather harsh on the skin…"

As Crono and Lucca put on gloves, Marian dipped a strip of fiberglass in the bucket of water. After she'd soaked it and wrung it out a few times, she brought it over to Marle. "Well, it's time."

Marle gulped. "…A… alright…"

"We'll start with the legs." Marian had her sit down, legs together; feet stretched parallel to the legs, as they would be when kneeling. Marian took the fiberglass strip, and began wrapping it around Marle's feet.

Soon, Crono and Lucca joined in, helping Marian get the fiberglass thick and smooth, and extending it up to just below her knees.

Marle found herself blushing now. Not only did she have three people's attention solely on her, but as they used their hands to smooth out the fiberglass, she found herself having a nice massage. Her warm glow of contentment began to change into something different, though, as she began to realize she was feeling the hands on her legs and feet less and less. She wasn't quite sure what to make of this new feeling—it seemed both frightening and exiting, at the same time…

While they waited for the cast on her lower legs to dry, they began working on her arms. Starting to have second thoughts, Marle tried not to think about her already dwindling mobility… But it was rather hard to ignore three people (one being her favorite guy) wrapping her in fiberglass and massaging her. The only thing that could take her focus off of this, in fact, was the extremely warm feeling in her feet and lower legs.

"Um, the cast on my legs is getting really warm…"

"That's supposed to happen—it's part of the fiberglass's drying process."

"Oh…"

When they approached Marle's hands, Marian told them, "Since she won't be able to move them, there's no point in wrapping each finger individually. Just wrap up her entire hand."

Once they were done with that, they helped Marle get into a kneeling position (on a crate, with her knees over the edge). As they did this, Marle realized just how helpless she already was. She could do almost nothing to aid the effort—her legs were stuck together, her ankles and toes completely immobile, and her arms and hands were quickly loosing what little mobility they had left. She felt a shiver run through her, and a knot of apprehension grow in her chest. _It's like I'm being turned to stone…I really hope I'm up for this…_

They wrapped the fiberglass up her legs, and as they went, Marle slowly felt first the cold wet bandages, then the tender massage of their hands, which faded away, leaving behind the heat of the drying fiberglass. They moved from her legs to her hips, then up her torso. (Once her leg casts were dry, they moved her down to the floor—another strange experience of helplessness for Marle.)

When they reached her breasts, Marian had them use a figure-eight pattern, to preserve Marle's bust. (Lucca insisted Crono not assist in this part, much to both Crono and Marle's disappointment.)

Finally, they covered up Marle's shoulders, connecting the lower cast to her arm casts. Now, just as Marle's dare said, she was covered in fiberglass from neck to toe.

After Marian, Crono, and Lucca had gotten themselves and the room cleaned up, Marian rapped her fingers on the cast. "Well, it should be basically dry, now. Feel free to test it."

Her cheeks red, Marle gave another gulp, and tried to move—but found it impossible. With a mixture of fascination and uneasiness, she said, "Well, you certainly did your job. I can't move a muscle."

Marian smiled. "There you are, then. One full body cast, as ordered."

"Gee, thanks. Just what I always wanted," Marle said dryly, trying not to let her confused emotions show.

Lucca asked, "So, what's it like, not being able to move?"

"Very strange. I'm not quite sure what to make of it."

Marian got out her tape measure, and began measuring Marle's legs, feet, and bust.

"What are you doing?"

"The cast is thick enough that with it on, your old snake-woman costume won't fit, so I need your new measurements." Marian wrote down the measurements, and went to get a new costume.

"I'll just wait here," Marle joked weakly. Lucca smiled at this. Marle moved her head around a bit then sighed. "I can't even shift my weight. This is so stupid."

"If you can't stand it, I'm sure they'd let you take the cast off," Lucca said.

Marle scowled. "Without having to leave the Funhouse?"

"Well... no. According to the rulebook if you stop a Penalty dare after having already come through the corresponding Rescue challenge, you have to leave. But still, if the dare's too much for you..."

Marle lifted her chin defiantly. "I can handle it."

"...Well, we'll see, won't we?"

Soon, Marian came back with the new snake-woman costume. The new bikini-top was more daringly cut then the old one, and both it and the tail were purple.

It took all three of them to get the tail on Marle, but they finally managed it. They zipped it up, put the top on her, and untied her hair.

Marle looked down at herself. "Wow, this costume looks even more like a Naga-ette than my old one."

Marian said, "Well, we're done here. Do you need Anar and Reton to help carry her out of here?"

Crono shook his head. "I've carried her before."

"Alright then. Marle, I'm supposed to tell you: if at any point this dare should become too much for you, just call out for Chronos or Bekkler, or tell one of the staff, and we'll get the cast off of you. However, you will then have to leave the Funhouse."

"I understand."

"In that case, I'll see you all later." Marian walked out.

Crono lifted up Marle, but found it was a lot more awkward trying to hold her now. Finally, he rested her on her back, his right arm under her knees. He turned to Lucca and indicated they should get going.

Marle complained, "When you carried me before, it felt romantic. Now it feels like I'm just some piece of furniture you're lugging around."

Crono looked down into her eyes. "More like a beautiful sculpture."

Marle blushed, and Lucca rolled her eyes.

o-o-o-o

Back in the Gray Room, Leena watched as Ayla, Korcha, Frog, and Serge sparred. Kid and Harle were also sparring, with each other, and Kid was delighting in proving her fighting superiority over Harle.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Leena opened it, and Crono came in, carrying Marle. Lucca followed them in.

Everyone turned and stared.

As Crono put her down, Kid commented, "So ya actually went through with it!"

Ayla walked over to Marle and touched the fiberglass, then tapped on it. "Why Marle covered in white rock?"

Marle rolled her eyes. "It's fiberglass, Ayla. This is the dare I agreed to do so Lucca could participate in my rescue challenge."

Ayla shivered. "Marle brave. Ayla no be able to be covered in rock, even for only day."

"Well, I'm not sure I can either. As usual, I think I might have bit off more than I can chew. But, I'm here, and casted, so I suppose I might as well give it a shot."

As everyone gathered around Marle, asking her what it was like, or testing the fiberglass to see if she really couldn't move, Lucca and Crono were pushed to the edge of the group.

Lucca turned to Crono. "Hey, while everyone else is busy, let's go back to the Red Room. There's something I want to discuss with you."

Lucca and Crono headed to the door. Noticing them, Marle called out, "Hey, where are you two going?"

Lucca waved at her, winked, and pushed Crono out the door.

Marle scowled. _Just great. And I can't even follow them to eavesdrop._

In the Red Room, Crono waited while Lucca gathered her thoughts.

"Crono. ...You know that when we travel through time to one future or another, that future is really only a possibility, not destiny, right? The fact that we were able to defeat Lavos proves this. The future can be altered.

"We've seen a lot of things about the future of this world, and about... us... in this time period. But it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. We might be able to stop Porre from conquering Guardia. We might also... be able to change... other things," Lucca said, beginning to sound nervous. "That is, if we want to..."

Crono blinked. _Why did we need to go into anther room to discuss this?_ he wondered.

Realizing Crono wasn't quite grasping her true point, she tried again. "What I'm trying to say is..." She paused, shuffling her feet. "Well, I... That is..."

Now Crono was really confused. Lucca was never this nervous!

Lucca shook her head. "Don't you get it Crono? ...Fine. Let me explain it another way." She walked up to him quickly, wrapped her arms around him, and planted her lips on his. Crono could only stare and stand there passively, as Lucca closed her eyes, embraced him more firmly, and rubbed her lips against his passionately.

Finally, she let him go and stepped back. She was blushing wildly, and for a moment looked shy and vulnerable. Then she recovered herself, squared her shoulders, and looked at him defiantly, as if expecting him to protest her actions.

Crono was so shocked by these actions, however, that all he could do was continue to stare.

Realizing no reprimand was coming, Lucca relaxed, and asked, "Was that a little bit easier to understand?"

Eyes still wide, Crono nodded. Lucca smiled.

After they had both stood there for a few moments, Lucca adjusted her glasses and asked, "So, is that a future you might be interested in exploring further?"

Crono took a moment to think about this, then said, "We've been friends for so long... since before I was even interested in girls... I never thought of you like this..."

"Ever since **I **started being interested in boys, there's only been one boy I was interested in. But I didn't want to risk our friendship by suggesting... you know."

"And now?"

"And now, learning of the history of this time period, I've realized how close I am to loosing you to **her**. Not that I blame her, or you, but... I decided I have to at least... tell you how I feel."

"I never even suspected..."

Lucca looked away. "...So... now that you know... what do you think?"

Crono frowned, and looked at the floor as he thought. After a few moments he looked back up at her. "This is so sudden... I need more time to get used to the idea. ...I like you, but I like Marle too - I'll need time to make a decision."

"I see..." Lucca said, sounding disappointed.

"I do know one thing, though."

"Oh? What's that?"

Crono walked up to her, and putting his hand on her face, turned her head to face him. As she looked into his eyes, he answered, "I like how you kiss." He then pulled their heads together and pressed his lips to hers.

Lucca's eyes widened, then closed, as they both embraced each other. The kiss lasted several minutes, and as it went on it grew more and more passionate. Lucca even went so far as to slip her tongue into Crono's mouth, prompting Crono to return the gesture.

After a few minutes, the two separated. Both their faces were flushed, and Lucca's hair a little disheveled. They smiled at each other as they caught their breaths.

o-o-o-o

In the Gray Room, Korcha, Serge, Frog, and Ayla had gone back to sparring, leaving Marle kneeling by the door with Kid and Harle.

Marle asked Harle, "So, why aren't you sparring with the rest of the guys, Quin?"

"I promised you I would keep you company, ma cheri."

"Thanks. Without people to talk to, this dare could get pretty boring."

Kid told her, "Don't worry, we're here fer ya."

Finally, Lucca and Crono walked back in.

Marle turned her head to look at them (as best she could) and scowled. "Where have you two been?"

Lucca put her hand behind her head. "Oh, I was just explaining something to Crono about alternate futures." Lucca walked up to Marle and said slyly, "You know, like we were talking about the other day? How just because history says you married Crono doesn't mean it will necessarily go that way for us?"

Crono said, confused, "You were? But you didn't say any of that."

Lucca crossed her arms and looked over at him. "Well not in so many words, but you got the message, right?"

Crono laughed nervously and nodded.

Looking at the two of them, and reading between the lines, Marle scowled. "Alright, what did you two do in there?"

Crono began to blush, and Lucca laughed. "Don't worry, nothing naughty. Just quick little peck on the lips. ...Well, maybe not so quick."

Kid's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped.

Marle looked outraged. "What?" Her head shook and rolled about a bit as she struggled futilely to move. Giving up, she said bitterly, "If I could move, I'd wring your neck for this, Lucca! Crono's my guy! Only I get to kiss him!"

"He didn't seem to mind. Did you, Crono?"

Crono smiled nervously.

Marle sighed, and said sourly, "And of course, you chose to make your first move now, while I can't do anything about it."

Lucca smiled and adjusted her glasses. "It's called strategy, Marle."

Harle put her hand on the back of Marle's neck. "Do not concern yourself with zat fool. After all, you have moi, no?"

"...Riiight..." Marle said slowly, as if she had forgotten, and with more than a trace of sarcasm mixed in.

Kid opened her mouth to speak, then changed her mind.

Marle turned her head to look at Crono, and batted her eyes. "You know, Crono, if you wanted a kiss you could have just came to me. I bet I can kiss a lot better than she can."

Lucca crossed her arms. "As if. There's no way you could match the kiss we just had. Isn't that right, Crono?"

Crono scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Come on Crono! Why don't you kiss me right now and find out?" Marle dared him.

Lucca nodded. "Yeah, why don't you? Then you'll see which of us is the better kisser!" Then realizing what she had just told Crono to do, Lucca said quietly, "Er, hold on. Can I take that back?"

Crono shook his head, and Marle said with a smirk, "No."

Crono moved in and wrapped his arms around Marle's fiberglass covered body as best he could; he wound up putting his hands at the back of her head and neck so she could actually feel that he was holding her. He then lowered his head to hers and gave her a nice long kiss.

The kiss lasted a minute or two; during that time they touched their tongues to each other's tongue and lips but the kiss never reached the level of passion his second kiss with Lucca had.

Marle gave a small smile. "That was pretty nice... Didn't you think so, Crono?"

"Yeah... nice," Crono said, though in his head Crono couldn't help but be a little disappointed. Judged on its own merits it was a good kiss, it just couldn't compare to his last kiss with Lucca.

Harle scoffed. "You call zat a kiss? Please, mademoiselle Marle, allow me to demonstrate for you what a kiss should be like."

Marle replied, "Later, Quin."

Lucca smirked. "Quin is right. That was pathetic. Don't you agree, Kid? ...Kid?" Lucca looked around, and realized there was no sign of Kid. "Where the heck did she go?"

o-o-o-o

Robo opened the door to see a distraught looking Kid standing there.

"What is the matter, Mistress Kid?"

"I... I need someone ta talk to... Ya up fer th' job?"

"Of course. Please come in." Robo stepped away from the door and gestured for Kid to enter.

Shortly, Kid was seated on the chair, and Robo positioned a comfortable distance in front of her (he didn't sit down for fear he would damage the couch; it wasn't like he ever needed to sit, anyway). After taking a few moments to compose herself, Kid explained what she had seen in the Gray Room.

"I suspected Lucca was attracted to Crono," Robo commented. "However I never expected her to act upon that attraction so long as Crono and Marle were pursuing a relationship."

"What was she thinkin'? I never thought Sis was th' sort ta steal another woman's man. And that Crono, cheatin' on Marle like that!"

After a short pause, Robo said, "I hesitate to correct you, but Marle and Crono's relationship is still in a quite informal stage. I am not certain if they consider themselves boyfriend and girlfriend, but the only outings they have gone on which might constitute dates were their times together at the Millennial Fair. As such, the charge of cheating may not be accurate."

"Whatever. Crono and Marle are gonna get married eventually, so its' close enough ta cheatin'."

"It is true history says that the Crono and Marle of this timeline were wed. However, it does not necessarily follow that the Crono and Marle currently residing in this building will wed as well. As those of us who have traveled back and forth through time are well aware, neither history nor the future is set in stone."

Kid's eyes widened. She was silent for a few moments, then said quietly, "I hadn't thought of that. I mean Sis told me th' stories, but all of that happened before my time. Never occurred ta me things might change again." She shook her head. "But why would Sis or Crono want to change this? According ta Sis's tales, Marle and Crono were really happy together."

"The only way to know for sure would be to ask them. However, I would speculate that Lucca is thinking primarily of her own happiness. As for Crono, he may have harbored feelings for Lucca as well, or he may simply be exploring all his options."

"So in other words the two of them are bein' selfish."

"That is one way to look at it. However, would you have them both ignore their feelings for the sake of Marle?"

"I... I don't know." Kid lowered her head and rested it in her hands. "It's just, as a kid I had Sis tell their tale again and again. It was like a fairytale - a hero and a princess meet and fall madly in love, and in the end marry and live happily ever after. The idea that the story might be rewritten is... well, it isn't right."

Robo was quite for a moments, giving Kid some time to let things sink in while he thought through his reply. Finally, he said, "Does that story truly have a happy ending? It was my understanding that Crono and Marle died in the invasion."

Kid said quietly, "I never let Sis tell that part of the story..."

Robo replied in an equally quiet voice, "We hope to change the ending of that story, but to do so we will need to change other things along the way. Even if Crono and Marle were to wind up together in the end, it would still not be the same story you heard as a child."

"Yeah... Yeah, I guess not." Kid looked up at Robo. "But what about Marle? She's gonna be devastated if Crono picks Lucca."

"Certainly she will be greatly disappointed. However, I believe you underestimate her. She has shown great resilience before; for instance even when we thought Crono was dead without recovery Marle was able to put aside her pain to help fight against Dalton. I am certain that should she loose Crono to Lucca, she shall accept it and move on within a relatively short time."

"I hope yer right."

o-o-o-o

Marle and Lucca argued over which of them should get Crono for a while longer, occasionally drawing him into the debate (much to his dismay). Harle hung around with them, doing her best to be supportive of Marle while dropping hints that Marle would be better off with "Quin" than with Crono.

After a while this topic grew boring, and the subject returned to Marle's cast.

"I wish they hadn't had to cast my fingers and toes," Marle complained. "I mean this dare would be bad enough if I just couldn't walk or bend my arms. As it is I might as well have been paralyzed from the neck down!"

"Do not say zat!" Harle protested. "Paralysis, it is usually permanent, no? But zis cast, you will have it off tomorrow afternoon."

"I meant something like a spell to temporarily paralyze," Marle said dryly.

"Zose who are paralyzed, zey often cannot feel at all," Harle tried again.

"And all I can feel is the inside of the cast."

Lucca now took up the argument, "Just be glad you're wearing that for a dare, and not for medical reasons. People with broken bones often have to wear casts for weeks or months on end!"

Marle shook her head. "I don't know how they can stand it. I'm not sure I'm even going to be able to last all day." She moved her head around in a way that suggested she was trying again to shift her body within the cast. "I feel so cooped up... Like I'm stuck in a closet so small there's no room to move... Or like I'm a chick that can't break out of her eggshell."

Crono moved closer to her and stroked her hair. "Relax. Remember, it isn't time to break out of that shell yet."

Marle snapped, "That doesn't help!"

Crono backed off, a surprised and slightly hurt expression on his face.

Marle sighed. "Sorry... I just have so much energy I don't know what to do with."

Lucca said, "That's a tough one. Maybe you could do... neck exercises?"

"Neck exercises?"

"Yeah. Roll your head around, bob it up and down - move it any way you can think of."

"Maybe when there's no one around. I look weird enough like this, I don't need to act weird too."

Harle suggested, "You could try singing. You have a lovely voice; I am sure you must sing divinely."

Lucca rolled her eyes. "Maybe if she'd paid attention to the singing instructor her father hired to teach her."

"Hey! I paid attention! I just never had enough time to practice!" Marle protested.

From there the conversation shifted to the subject of the busy life of a Princess and the question of exactly how busy it was. (Marle claimed she never had a spare minute; Crono and Lucca were skeptical of this claim. Harle pretended to be sympathetic.)

The conversation then shifted to other topics, as Crono, Lucca, and Harle did their best to keep Marle's mind off her situation. All four did their best not to bring up the subject of Marle and Lucca's competition for Crono's heart, but it was an uneasy truce and Marle and Lucca kept winding up arguing with one another over minor issues.

o-o-o-o

After a while, Korcha, Serge, Frog, and Ayla grew tired of their sparring, and decided to call it quits. Serge, Ayla, and Leena headed back to the Red Room. Korcha left to try and find Kid, while Frog joined Lucca, Crono, Harle, and Marle.

As the five conversed, Frog quickly noticed the tension between Marle and Lucca. Feeling it would be rude to ask what the problem was, he instead did his best to play the peacemaker when arguments broke out between them.

After a while, however, the group began to run out of things to discuss. Growing bored, Lucca asked, "Marle, would you mind if Crono and I went and did something else for a little while? I know this isn't pleasant for you, but I don't really feel like standing around all day just to keep you company."

Marle sighed. "Fine. If want to do something else, go do it. But Crono, you'll stay with me, won't you?"

"Um..."

Lucca leaned up against Crono and grabbed his arm. "Come on, Crono, I want to continue our... discussion... from earlier. There'll be plenty of time to visit with her later - it's not like she's going anywhere."

Frog raised an eyelid at the way Lucca was clinging to Crono, and frowned at her last statement.

Marle growled, "Lucca! No fair!"

Frog croaked. "I agree. Thine barb wast uncalled for."

Lucca and Marle both paused, their argument derailed.

Finally, Lucca hung her head. "I'm sorry Marle, I shouldn't make fun of your situation. I know it's hard on you."

Marle gave Lucca a strange look. "'Hard on me'...? Did you do that on purpose?"

"Do what?"

"Never mind." Marle giggled, then shook her head. "I don't mind you making fun of my dare. It's not like I didn't have a choice whether to accept this dare. And it helps remind me these dares are supposed to be fun. I just don't want you taking advantage of my dare to monopolize Crono!"

"Don't worry, I'll let you have him back later."

"You'd better!"

"Don't worry, I will!" Lucca said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, Crono." She started pulling on his arm. He shrugged, waved goodbye to Marle, and let Lucca pull him out of the room.

Tired of the scenery, Marle told Harle and Frog to take her out to the yard.

o-o-o-o

Kid and Robo had finished discussing the love triangle between Marle, Crono, and Lucca, and were debating temporal meta-physics when Ayla, Leena, and Serge got back. Feeling out of place being the only Gray Team member there, Kid told Robo they would continue their discussion later, said a polite goodbye, and headed out to do some thinking out in the yard.

Back in the Red Room the four discussed what to do. Leena suggested they play cardboard-box Jenga, but Ayla shook her head at that.

"No want sit around. Want move!"

"You just spent almost an hour fighting! Aren't you tired out yet?"

"No," Ayla said sounding puzzled that Leena would expect her to be.

"Amazing. So did you have something in mind to do?"

Ayla put a hand to her chin in thought. "At home Ayla hunt, fight most of day. No can hunt here... What else Ayla do...?" Then her face brightened. "Ayla know! Party! Sing, dance, eat much..."

Leena said, "I don't think we can do a lot of eating - the cafeteria doesn't usually serve food except at meal time, and we only have so much snack food here. Besides, I want to save room for supper."

Ayla shrugged. "So, still sing, dance."

"That sounds like fun. What do you think, Serge?"

"I guess that might be fun. Shouldn't we wait for Crono and Lucca, though?"

Ayla shook her head. "They spend time with Marle now. Can party with us later. Let's go!" She waved them towards the door, and started heading for it herself.

"Where are you going?" Leena asked, confused.

"No room here to dance. Go to dungeon."

Leena thought about it. "The dungeon doesn't really have the decor I would look for in a party, but I suppose it's our only choice. Okay, let's go. You coming Robo?"

Robo said, "If you would like me to."

Ayla said, "Robo come. Have fun!"

"Very well."

o-o-o-o

"Nice day out, cha?"

"Yep," Kid said, not bothering to look away from the clouds she was gazing at.

Korcha stood there awkwardly for a while, trying to think of something else to say.

o-o-o-o

Reaching the dungeon, Leena, Serge, Ayla, and Robo encountered an unanticipated problem - Ayla didn't know any songs from the modern era, while Leena and Serge didn't know any from the stone age. Robo luckily did know a few from each era - and even had recordings of some of them he could play. Robo volunteered to provide background instrumentals to their music, and it was decided that they would each take turns choosing songs.

Leena and Serge were surprised by the heavy beat of "Jurassic Rhythm" and the wild movements of the dancing - it reminded Serge of Nikki's music and dance numbers. They danced along, but not being rock fans they didn't enjoy it as much as Ayla.

For her turn, Leena insisted on a soulful duet with Serge, and some slow dancing; Ayla sat that song out.

Serge sang a song on his own with a folk music feel to it, and all four of them enjoyed dancing to it.

At Leena and Ayla's insistence Robo picked out a song as well. His choice was a strange sort of music unlike anything the other three had ever heard before, full of beeps, metallic clangs, and electric humming. At first the other three tried to dance to it, but Leena and Serge soon gave up.

After Robo's solo performance, Leena and Sege were glad for the slightly more familiar tribal music of Ayla's next selection.

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, Lucca and Crono returned to the Red Room.

"Perfect, no one else is here." Lucca said. "Now, where were we?"

Lucca and Crono turned to one another, and kissed again - this time for longer and more passionately than before. They were so enthusiastic they even ended up falling onto the Red Room couch.

Finally they stopped to catch their breaths.

Lying on top of Crono, Lucca toyed with his hair. "I should have let you know my feeling earlier. I've been waiting for this for so long..."

Crono was silent for a while, then said, wistfully, "Who are you, anyway? You look just like Lucca, but you don't act like her."

Lucca giggled. "I know. But I just couldn't keep up the act in front of you any longer."

"So, is the Lucca I've known for all these years just an act?"

"Well, mostly... but you must have realized that."

"Mmm... You never were comfortable revealing your true feelings."

"And you're never comfortable saying much. What a pair we make!"

After a moment of silence, Crono sighed.

"What is it?"

"Doing this... it makes me feel guilty. Marle..."

"Does being with me really make you that guilty? I mean, you're not actually dating Marle, so it's not like you're cheating on her."

"I know, but..."

Lucca got off of him, and sat down on the couch by his feet. Looking away from him, she said reluctantly, "If you're really that devoted to her, we can stop this right now. I can accept the fact that I waited too long to be frank with you. ...At least, I think I can." Turning her head so he couldn't see her face, she tried to hold back the tears that were threatening.

Crono sat up, and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't. I haven't made a decision yet. I like Marle a lot, but I like you a lot, too. I just..." Crono faltered, not able to come up with the right words to express what he was feeling.

Lucca turned to him, and they looked into each other's eyes, both troubled and confused. After a moment, they embraced again, this time not as a sign of love, but in friendship.

"We'll work this out, somehow," Lucca whispered.

Crono and Lucca went back to the Gray Room to talk with Marle, but she wasn't there. After a little bit of searching, they spotted Marle and Harle outside, but as they weren't allowed in the yard and neither Crono nor Lucca was quite sure what they would say to Marle anyway, they decided to wait until later to discuss the matter with her.

Instead they looked around for the rest of the Red Team, soon finding them in the Dungeon (there weren't many other places to look). Crono and Lucca were quite surprised to find Serge, Leena, Ayla, and Robo all singing and dancing.

"What's this, some sort of party?" Lucca wondered.

Ayla nodded, and Leena said, "More or less. Sorry we didn't come get you but we knew you were keeping Marle company."

"It's all right. But what are you celebrating?"

Ayla shook her head. "Nothing. Were bored; this something to do."

"Well, I guess I can't argue with that."

And so, Crono and Lucca joined the party. On some of the slow songs Crono and Lucca danced together, but wanting to get Robo in on the slow dances Lucca took a few dances with him as well.

And so the team passed the time until supper.

o-o-o-o

Shortly after Harle and Frog carried Marle in to the yard, Frog headed over to the pool for a swim, leaving Harle with Marle.

Kid walked over to Marle. "Go bug someone else, Harle. I want to talk with Marle."

Harle crossed her arms. "How rude! I am not going to leave just because you said so."

Marle said, "Kid, let her stay. I want all the company I can get. ...I mean unless what you wanted to talk about is private or something."

Kid thought about it, and decided that since Harle knew about the love triangle there was no reason not to talk about it in front of her - other than Kid's general dislike of Harle, of course. "No, I suppose not. I just wanted ta ask ya, how ya doin'?"

Marle sighed. "Not too bad, all thing considered. A little bored, and I keep getting itchy spots under my cast, but otherwise I'm fine."

"Well, that's good, but actually..." She said more quietly, "I was talkin' 'bout how Sis is tryin' ta steal Crono from ya, and how he seems ta be fallin' fer her."

"Oh... that," Marle said sourly. "I'm trying not to think about it."

"Ya want me ta go talk some sense inta them?" Kid slapped her fist into the palm of her other hand.

"Thanks for the thought, but no. I don't mind a little competition for the guy of my dreams. It just bugs me she's making her first moves on him when I can't move at all! How can I show Crono I'd make the better girlfriend if I'm stuck waiting for him to come to me?"

Kid was so surprised to hear this she was left speechless for a moment.

Harle spoke up. "If Crono was ze good boyfriend, he would come to you. Perhaps if he does not, you should choose someone else, no?"

Marle rolled her eyes.

Kid shook her head. "Shut up, Harle." She then said to Marle, "Yer really okay with Lucca turnin' yer love life into a competition?"

Marle hesitated. "Well that depends on what you mean by 'okay'. I'm not happy about it, but I can handle it. I mean at least this way when I win Crono's heart I can say I earned it." She gave a short laugh. "Actually, this might be good for our relationship - who knows how long it would have taken us to start taking our relationship seriously otherwise?"

Kid was about to say that she knew, when she realized that her big "Sis" Lucca's tales had never specified when Crono and Marle started dating. "Well, I know when you two got engaged, and when ya got married."

"Ooh, really? Tell me about it!"

"Er... Are ya sure? I wouldn't want ta ruin the surprise."

"It's probably not going to go the same way for me anyway, remember?"

Kid frowned. "Right. Okay than. Here's how Sis told it ta me..."

o-o-o-o

At supper-time, the Red team headed for the Cafeteria, as usual. Meanwhile, Gray team had to settle for the junk food in their cupboards, as always.

As she couldn't move her arms or hands, Marle had to be fed, and Harle volunteered for the job.

However, feeding Marle a cupcake, Harle smeared a bit of frosting and cake on Marle's face. "Oops! Allow me to clean zat off." And before Marle could react, Harle began eating the cake off her face.

Seeing this, Kid scowled and started to move towards Harle. "Hey, cut that out, Harle!"

Marle giggled. "Don't worry about it, Kid. I don't mind."

Kid gave her a strange look, but sat back down.

Shortly Harle reached the cake near Marle's lips, and she used eating that cake as an excuse to give Marle a long, sensual kiss. When she pulled away from Marle, she found everyone staring at her. "Pardon me for being so forward, but you did say earlier zat I could show you a proper kiss later."

"I suppose I did," Marle conceded, a bit bemused. "And you're right, it was a pretty good kiss too."

"But of course!"

o-o-o-o

The evening went normally for all but Marle and Harle.

Crono and Lucca came by and visited Marle for a while, and explained that they had planned on visiting her earlier, but had been unable to as she had been outside.

"You should have let us know. Even outside, it's pretty boring not being able to move."

"Sorry," Lucca said. "So, now that you've been that way a few hours, what do you think of your dare?"

"Frustrating. You can't imagine how many times I've gone to make some simple movement, only to be reminded again that I can't. I can't even scratch an itch or brush the hair out of my face!"

"Man, that sounds bad. I'm glad it's not my dare!"

"I wish it weren't mine. If this was just a Bonus Dare, I'd quit it! Even now, I'm tempted to..."

"Why don't you? I mean, is staying in this game really worth it?"

Marle said testily, "You just want to have Crono to yourself!"

Lucca adjusted her glasses, and protested unconvincingly, "What? Of course not! That was the furthest thing from my mind!"

"You expect me to believe that?"

Lucca gave a nervous laugh.

Harle put her arms around Marle's neck. "Do not give up hope, ma cheri. I know you can do zis."

Marle smiled, somewhat wryly. "Thanks, Quin."

o-o-o-o

After this, Crono and Lucca tried to get back into their normal routines. But, try as they might, neither could stop thinking about the other, or about the times they had kissed that day.

o-o-o-o

When the time for bed came, Marle's cast once more proved a problem. By kneeling as it dried, Marle had prevented herself from falling over, but now she couldn't simply be laid down to sleep. Kid and Harle tried putting her in her bed on her back, but her head ended up at an uncomfortable angle.

Unable to come up with any other ideas, they had to put her back on the floor on her knees, putting her pillow on her shoulder so she could rest her head on it.

Marle commented to the others, "I'm almost used to not being able to move- though I can't say I like it- but things like this make me really glad this dare is only for a day!"

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

**Day Ten**

Marle had a hard time sleeping, and woke up in the middle of the night. She tried to get into a more comfortable position, but of course, all she could move was her head.

She sighed. _This is not fun. I sort of thought being helpless might be nice, if everyone took care of me. But I guess I would have had to have played it for more sympathy... _

She sighed again, once more unconsciously trying to shift her weight, instead being reminded again of her immobility. _This stinks so bad..._ Feeling sorry for herself, she wondered whether she should consider giving up. But that would mean giving up on the Funhouse, and leaving Crono and Lucca together in here without her.

She sighed a third time, and hung her head.

o-o-o-o

She managed to get a few more fitful hours of sleep, but woke long before everyone else, and couldn't get back to sleep. This made her even more acutely aware of her helplessness- even though she was awake, she couldn't do anything until someone else got up.

An hour or two later, her teammates started getting up. Harle offered to feed her again, and Marle agreed. "I'd like some ice-cream this morning. But don't get any on my face if you can help it- that would be too cold. If you want to kiss me, just do it, don't try to make up an excuse."

"As you wish, Mademoiselle," Harle said, and gave Marle a kiss. Marle blushed.

o-o-o-o

After breakfast, Marle had herself taken out to the yard again. Even if she couldn't go swimming, she could still enjoy the sun and fresh air.

After Ayla's daily unarmed combat training, Crono went looking for Marle. Seeing her and Harle outside, he knocked on the glass to get their attention. When Harle came over and opened the door, he explained he had come to visit Marle. "Could you bring her in so we can talk?"

"And why would she wish to speak to you? 'Ave you not chosen Lucca over her?"

Crono protested loudly, "No, I haven't! I just... haven't made up my mind yet!"

Not having been able to hear much of the conversation, Marle called out, "What does he want, Quinn?"

"'E wants to speak wit' you."

"Well move me over there so he can!"

Harle walked over to Marle. "Are you sure about zis? You truly wish to speak with 'im after 'e 'as treated you ze way 'e 'as?"

"Huh? How has he treated me?"

"'E 'as taken advantage of your incapacitation to spend much time wit' Lucca, your rival for 'is affections. And even zo 'e denies it, I believe 'e 'as chosen 'er over you."

"I'll decide whether to believe him myself. As for spending time with Lucca, I kind of expected that - but he's here now, isn't he? Now take me to him!"

Harle sighed. "Az you wish."

Harle moved behind Marle and grabbed her under her arms. With a grunt, she lifted Marle a few inches off the ground. "Zis iz 'arder zan I thought... 'Old on." Harle put her down and got Frog, and together they moved Marle out into the hallway.

"Will you be needing us further, milady?" Frog asked.

"No, I should be fine."

Frog bowed, and headed back out into the yard.

"Are you sure? Perhaps I should stay so zat when you are done talking wit' 'im I can get help and bring you back outside?"

"No, if Crono can't get your attention I'll just have him take me back to the Red Room or something."

"If you are sure..." Harle reluctantly headed back out into the yard.

Marle turned her head back to Crono. "So, what did you want?"

Crono scratched the back of his head. "Nothing really... I just thought you might want to spend some time with me."

"Great! Doing what?"

"Uh... I hadn't thought that far ahead."

Marle rolled her eyes. "You're going to have to do better than that if you want to compete with Quin."

"Huh?"

"Didn't you notice yesterday? Quin's trying to woo me away from you. And he's doing a pretty good job of it, too. He's much more romantic than you, and a great kisser, to boot."

"You kissed...? But Marle, Harle's a girl!"

"So? Maybe I'm like Ayla and like both boys and girls."

Crono raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"Okay, so I prefer guys," Marle conceded. "And it's a good thing, too, seeing as how I have a duty to the Kingdom and my family to continue the Guardia line. But..." Marle glanced around as best she could, but not being able to turn around was forced to ask Crono, "No one else is close enough to hear me, right?"

When he confirmed they were alone she said, "Alright, this is private, so don't tell anyone... but there have been a few girls I've found attractive - and Harle's one of them. I'm not saying I'm interested in a long-term relationship with her, but if you and me aren't getting together after all, I wouldn't mind spending more time with her until I find the right guy."

Crono frowned. "Don't give up on us yet," he pleaded. "I really do like you. I just need to figure out what Lucca means to me."

"And if you decide Lucca means more to you than I do, then what?"

"Then I hope you find a better guy or girl than Harle. I mean, I know she hasn't been that bad in the Funhouse, but based on what Serge and Kid have told us..."

Marle shook her head. "She hasn't done anything worse than Magus did. Besides, most of the things they told us about this version of her never did and probably won't get a chance to do."

Crono frowned. "That doesn't make this version of her a better person than the one Serge and Kid told us about."

"Well it's not like I plan on spending my life with her. So what if she's not an angel?"

"I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"It's nice to know you at least care about me that much, but I can handle myself."

Crono wanted to argue with that - Marle tended to be too trusting of people, and at the moment she was in no position to defend herself physically (though admittedly she didn't have to worry about wandering hands at the moment). However, he knew he wasn't going to win this argument, so he merely said, "If you say so."

Deciding to change the subject, Marle asked, "So, do you have any ideas about what we can do together?"

Crono wracked his brain for ideas. He didn't want to just talk with her - he'd done enough sitting around listening to her chat about random things the previous day. In that cast she couldn't play any games that required moving around or even holding something. As far as doing something romantic went, he couldn't exactly take her out for a candle-lit dinner. Their options for making out were also severely limited at the moment. They could still kiss, but he couldn't see doing that for more than a few minutes.

"It's hard; there's not a lot to do in the Funhouse to begin with, and with you in that cast..." Crono complained.

"Don't remind me," Marle said sourly.

Crono continued thinking about it for a few minutes, but nothing came to mind.

Running out of patience, Marle said, "Why don't you call Harle and Frog over and have them bring me back outside. You can go think about what you want to do, and when you come up with something we can try this again."

Still unable to come up with anything, Crono reluctantly agreed.

o-o-o-o

Crono found the rest of the Red Team playing games in the Red Room. Crono joined them, and became distracted enough by the games (and being with Lucca) that he forgot to think of things to do with Marle.

Despite their misgivings, Lucca and Crono still couldn't stop thinking of one another, and time lessened their guilt. As they played they often stole glances at one another; it was only by chance that Serge and Leena failed to notice. Ayla and Robo did notice, but chose not to say anything.

As the morning continued Crono and Lucca spent most of their time together, even when the team was not all together.

o-o-o-o

As had been the case most of the time Marle had been in her cast, Harle kept her company the rest of the morning, and flirted shamelessly with her while she was at it. Wanting to enjoy it while she could, Marle flirted back, and even encouraged Harle to kiss her from time to time.

Kid expressed her disapproval of the match and their antics several times, but otherwise tried to ignore the flirting and kissing. Frog ignored their antics as well, while Korcha encouraged them (much to Kid's annoyance).

o-o-o-o

At one, everyone expected Vicks, Wedge, or Piette to stop by and tell them it was time for the dare. Marle was anxiously waiting for them, as well, since that would mean she would be able to get out of her cast. But it wasn't until one-thirty that Vicks and Piette finally showed up.

Piette told the Red Team the challenge would be in half an hour, and before they headed to the Challenge room, they should change into their bathing suits.

"In previous Challenges, we've let you chose what you wanted to wear, even when swimming. This time, however, we have a strict dress code. You **must** wear some sort of bathing suit. That means, only one layer of clothes, and your arms and legs must be bare below the knees and elbows. Your feet must also be bare. If you have a problem with this, you'll have to stand out this challenge. If any of you don't have a suit that fits these criteria, but wish to participate, the Supply Room should be able to provide you with something suitable."

In the Gray Room, Vicks gave the same message, and added, "Marle, we delayed the Challenge so you could stay in that cast a full twenty-four hours and still participate in the Challenge. You've now completed the dare, so I'll take you to the Supply Room to get the cast off."

"Thanks. But you really didn't need to be that precise just for me. Twenty-three-and-a-half hours would have been fine with me."

Vicks just looked at her. "...Anyway, we might as well bring your bathing suit, so you can change directly into it."

"You mean I don't have to wear my snake tail?"

"Not if you intend on participating in the challenge- a bathing suit is mandatory attire for this dare."

"Neat. Kid, could you get out my bathing suit for me?"

Kid did this, and Vicks carried Marle to the Supply Room. Frog accompanied them, to get a suit of his own. Robo also showed up at the Supply Room. Anar and Reton attended to them, while Vicks took Marle to a back room, then left her with Marian.

"So, Marle, about ready to move again?"

"Since before you'd even finished the cast."

"Well, then, let's get to it." Marian took Marle's costume off, then took out a device that looked like a pizza cutter. However, it had an electrical cord, and when she pushed a button, the blade began to spin.

"That won't cut my skin, will it?"

"No, only the cast."

Marian took the cutter and put it to the fiberglass on her right shoulder. She then brought it down Marle's arm, around the hand, back up the inner side of her arm, then down her side, to her right leg. Marian followed Marle's leg to her foot, went across her toes, and up the other leg.

When Marian reached Marle's neck again, she shut off the cutter and put it down. Then she grasped the back half of the cast, and pulled it away.

"There, you're free."

Weakly, Marle crawled out of the remaining part of the cast, and got to her feet. She stretched. "Oh, it feels so good to move again." Then she put her hand to her nose. "Man, I need a bath!"

"You also need to get out of that diaper."

"No kidding. But I don't want to put my bathing suit on until I'm clean."

"Hmm. I can understand that."

Marian left her to go get something. While she waited, Marle attempted to walk around, to stretch her muscles. Her legs were quite weak (and rather sore), though, after a day of not moving, and she nearly fell down several times.

After a little bit, Marian came back with a large towel. "Here you can wear this until you get in the shower."

"Thanks."

"Oh, and are you going to want to keep your cast?"

"What? …Why would I want to?"

"I don't know. As a memento, perhaps?"

"No thanks. I'd rather forget these past twenty-four hours."

"All right. We'll get rid of it, then."

Taking her bathing suit, Marle headed back to the Gray Room, wrapped up in her towel.

Her teammates congratulated her on making it through the dare, and made no argument when she said she was going to take a shower. Once in the shower, she took the towel and diaper off, and washed up very thoroughly. Finally, she turned the water off, put on her bathing suit, and wrapping the diaper up in the towel, stepped out. Not wanting to stink up the apartment, she brought it back to the Supply Room for disposal.

o-o-o-o

As two approached, the players all changed into their bathing suits. Ayla found it odd to be walking around barefoot, though she commented that other cavemen did it all the time. Robo wore a pair of trunks, which, needing to fit him, were huge. Frog had chosen a pair of briefs, and as for Harle...

Unable to wear her normal, full-body bathing suit, and in keeping with her role as a male, Harle wore only a pair of briefs.

"Leena's gonna have a fit!" Kid commented.

Kids prediction proved accurate; as they entered the Dare Room, and Leena saw what Harle wasn't wearing, Leena cried, "Don't look, Serge!" and covered his eyes. Turning, she yelled, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, HARLE?"

"Harle? Oh, you mean moi, Quin. I am afraid I do not understand ze question, however."

Leena wasn't the only one staring at Harle. Crono and Lucca were also staring at her, in shock, and Korcha was staring at her as well, for his own reasons.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "I think she means that you could have covered your chest."

"And why should I do a t'ing like zat? All ze other men, zey bare zeir chests. Why should I not, as well?"

Leena said through clenched teeth, "Because you're not really a man."

Her shock having worn off, Lucca glanced at Crono, and realized that he was still staring at Harle, but no longer in shock. Lucca elbowed him in the ribs.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?"

Crono scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

Lucca scowled at him. Not wanting to meet her gaze, he turned away- and saw, his heart sinking, that Marle was glowering at him even more darkly.

Leena turned back to Serge, still covering his eyes. "I'm not letting you look at Harle like this. You're going back to the Red Room, and the rest of us will take care of the challenge."

"But..."

"No `but's! Go!"

Sighing in resignation, Serge turned headed back to the Red Room.

Vicks and Piette talked to each other quietly for a moment, then Piette headed after Serge.

Vicks then escorted the other players to the Challenge room, where Bekkler was waiting for them.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o **

**The Funhouse: Round Three  
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Vicks informed Bekkler of Serge's walking out, then Bekkler addressed the players, "Welcome to the Round Three Bonus Challenge. As always, the team that wins this challenge will get the chance to win points for the team tomorrow, and a prize, while the team that looses will have to face a penalty. Today's penalty is that you must stay in your bathing suits until the Bonus Dare tomorrow. This is why we insisted that you all change into bathing suits even if you don't normally wear them while swimming.

"Today's prize is the Key to the door across the east hall from the yard. Inside you will find a hot tub, large enough for several people to relax in at once. The key..." Bekkler said, then waved his hand toward the pool, which no longer had poles in it, and was filled with something green and murky. "-is in there. At the bottom of the pool. If you want it, you'll have to dive down into that slime and search for it. If you don't care about it, feel free to do as you like. You can even go back to your apartments and resume your daily routines, if you don't mind doing it in your bathing suits.

"The game ends when someone finds the key, or at one tomorrow. If by then the Key hasn't been found, you'll compete in a different challenge to determine the winning team. That team, however, will only get to perform a team dare; they will not get the Key if they haven't found it.

"Any one who does not wish to wear their bathing suit until the one tomorrow or your team finds the Key, may sacrifice six points and forfeit. Any takers?"

Nobody raised their hand, so Bekkler announced, "Very well then. Piette should be informing Serge of all this right now. As for the rest of you, let the game begin!" He then floated away.

Kid turned to her teammates and said, "Well, I guess we might as well go for it."

Harle looked at the slime apprehensively. "Is ze hot-tub really zat important?"

"No, getting the team dare is- remember, that's twelve points; one-thousand, two-hundred GP, if we can all perform the dare."

Marle said, "I think the hot-tub is that important. That would be even better than Red Team's bath."

Meanwhile, Leena told her teammates, "I'm not going to waste my points just so I can put my dress back on, but there's no way I'm getting in that pool."

Lucca looked perplexed at Leena's reaction, but Crono only shrugged, and waved for the rest to follow him to the pool. Meanwhile, the Gray team also walked up to the pool.

At approximately the same time, the players from both teams jumped in. Only Marle hesitated, and as a result was splattered by drops of slime sent flying by the other players' entry.

Wiping off the thick green globs, she said, "Eeww! Gross! On second thought, maybe that hot-tub isn't so important..."

Kid's head popped out of the water, slime dripping off her hair and down her face. "Come on, Marle, it's only slime."

"There's no such thing as **only** slime. I'm sitting this one out."

"We don't have time to argue, so I'll let ya get away with it, but I think yer makin' a mistake." Kid plunged under the surface again, to search for the key.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

In another part of the Funhouse...

In the staff quarters, Reton knocked on the door of Anar's room.

"It's open."

Reton stepped in. "Hey, Anar, do you know what happened to Marle's cast?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Well, I was going to go run it to the dump."

"No need for that. I already... er... took care of it."

Reton looked at him suspiciously.

"What?"

"Nothing." Reton walked out, closing the door behind him.

Anar smiled and laughed. Locking his door, he walked over to his closet, opened it up, and looked inside at Marle's cast. Running his hand along the inside of the cast, he chuckled again. "I love this job."

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Will someone be able to find the key? If so, who? And how long will it take them? ...Also, later, the players are offered the opportunity to win an invaluable prize. All this, and the Round Three Bonus Dares! Next time, on the Funhouse!

o-o-o

_Author's Notes continued: _"someone", you say due to her free spirit, Marle would not wish to loose her mobility. I can understand that point of view, but keep in mind, everyone interprets the characters differently. My version of Marle has already shown some willingness to have her movement restricted—otherwise, she wouldn't have agreed to the Naga-ette costume. Also, don't forget, it's only for a day, and I my version of Marle has a bit of modesty—enough to tip the scales between the two options in this case, I felt.

…Finally, as far as the nudity goes, all I can say is, be patient… ;D

_Author's note, Revision of June 2010: _In his review of the original version of this chapter, Nicodius pointed out that it didn't seem like Crono and Lucca's new relationship was that big of a deal to Marle. That was not how I intended it, but looking over the chapter again I found I agreed that was how it came across. I have attempted to re-write this chapter to fix the problem.

_Author's note, Revision of May 2012: _There isn't a single chapter of this story that I haven't found the need to revise after posting (though I haven't gotten around to all of those revisions yet) but this chapter is one that has given me more trouble than most. The start of the love triangle between Marle, Crono and Lucca is an important turning point in those characters' stories and sooner or later affects almost all of the other characters in one way or another, but the original version of the chapter only showed Crono and Lucca's perspective on the matter. Even now I fear I have not done the event justice, but I hope I've come a lot closer.


	13. Episode Eleven

Author's Note: Sorry to have worried you, Nicodius. No, I didn't abandon the story, I just got busy and lost track of time. In compensation, here's another chapter!

Well, on with the show!

Crono Crossover: The Funhouse

Episode Eleven

Round Three Part One

Previously: Marle had to stay in a full-body plaster cast for twenty-four hours to stay in the game. Lucca revealed her true feelings to Crono with a kiss. Marle and Harle acted as if they were falling for each other, but is either one serious, or is it all just an act? Finally, in the Team Challenge, the players had to put on their bathing suits and dive into a pool of slime to find a key- but with a small key in a big pool, and the slime too murky to see through, this could be a long challenge.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Character Scoreboard:

Red Team (Team points: 12):

**Crono**:  
Clothing: bathing briefs  
Points: 10

**Lucca:  
**Clothing: bathing suit  
Points: 9

**Robo:  
**(Serial Dare X: "Metamorphosis" into action figure.)  
Clothing: swimming trunks  
Conditions: Head & right foot plastic  
Points: 72

**Ayla:  
**Clothing: top; loincloth;  
Points: 12

**Serge:  
**Clothing: swimming trunks  
Points: 8

**Leena:  
**Clothing: bathing suit  
Points: 6

o-o-o

Gray Team (team points: 0):

**Frog:  
**Clothing: bathing briefs  
Points: 13

**Marle:  
**Clothing: bathing suit  
Points: 16

**Korcha:  
**Clothing: loincloth  
Points: 7

**Kid:  
**Clothing: bikini  
Points: 0

**Harle:  
**(Serial Dare VI: "Identity Crisis")  
Clothing: bathing briefs  
Conditions: act like a man (until next bonus)  
Points: 66

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

**Day Ten (Continued)**

In the Red Room, Serge sat on the couch in his bathing suit, considering the fact that Leena had excluded him from this challenge. He understood why she had done this- she didn't like him looking at other pretty girls, and she didn't want him looking at naked women at all. Harle hadn't been naked, but Leena didn't want him seeing Harle's bare breasts, even by accident.

Serge wasn't quite sure what to think of Leena's jealousy. On the one hand, it was amusing, and touching that she cared about him that much. But on the other hand, sometimes her protectiveness felt rather stifling. After all, they weren't married yet, or even engaged. Serge felt he should have the freedom to at least consider dating other girls before he made a final decision.

And really, did she think he was that naughty that he would look at another girl in lust, when he was dating Leena?

He sighed. Leena might possibly be the girl for him, but he wasn't ready for her yet.

o-o-o-o

After five to ten minutes, most of the players had to climb out of the slime pool for a rest. It was quite a sight, half a dozen people, covered in thick green slime.

Ayla, having more stamina than the others, continued searching, as did Frog, who was in his element, and Robo, who didn't need to breath and was so heavy he could just walk around on the bottom.

As soon as they were out of the pool, Harle began wiping the slime off of herself, a disgusted look on her face. "Zis is ze most disgusting t'ing I 'ave done in my life. I am sorry, Kid, but I do not t'ink zis is worth it. I am not going back in zere."

Kid wasn't happy about this. "Why are ya always so selfish, Harle?"

"Quin."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't ya see, we have to win this challenge. If we don't perform a team dare soon, we'll be left in the dust!"

Harle argued, "It iz not as if we must get a large amount of points to win ze game."

"No, but ya do want ta win as much money as ya can, don't ya? Besides, even if it isn't the point of the game, I'd like ta be on the team that wins the most points."

"Ah, yes. I would like zat, too..." Harle thought about it. "Yes, it would most embarrassing to be on ze team zat gets ze least points, even if we do win. Very well, zen, I shall put aside my dignity once more." Harle walked back to the pool. "Well, what are you all waiting for? We have ze key to find, yes?"

Kid smiled. "Just catchin' my breath, Quin. Now let's show the Red team what we're made of!"

"Yes, let us!" The two girls jumped into the pool at the same time, and went back to searching the bottom for the key.

Not wanting to seem like a slacker, Korcha jumped in after them.

Marle shook her head. "I can't believe they're doing that. Swimming around in a pool of slime..." Marle shuddered.

Lucca glanced over in her direction (though, without her glasses, she couldn't really make Marle out). "That's strange sentiments coming from someone who willingly spent a day in a full body cast!"

Marle shivered at the memory. "That was hardly something I would have chosen to do." She shook her head. "Anyway… So I don't like getting messy." She shrugged. "What do you expect? I was raised as a princess."

"You didn't seem to mind having pie on your face."

"That's different. I don't mind getting food on me. It's just gross stuff that bothers me."

Lucca moved her hand to her face, as if to adjust her glasses. When all she touched was her slimy face, she quickly put her hand down. "Some people might consider having food somewhere other than their mouth to be gross."

"Huh."

After a pause, Lucca got up and walked over to Marle.

"Don't get too close! I don't want to get slime on me again."

"Right." Lucca stopped a few feet short of her, and sat down. "Marle... I... I want to apologize for making my move on Crono while you were helpless. ...I realize now that was unfair, even cruel. ...I'm sorry. If the Epoch could travel through time that precisely, I'd go back and change it..."

Marle looked at Lucca's face. It was very strange seeing her like this, with slime covering her face, and no glasses. Strangest of all, though, was the look of true remorse on her face.

Marle stared at her. It was hard to even think of this girl as Lucca. Certainly, it was a side of her rarely seen.

"It's... alright. I forgive you."

Lucca's eyes widened, and some of the sorrow left her face. "You... do?"

Marle giggled now. "Yes, I do. Is that so hard to believe? I mean, it's not like I wouldn't have been tempted to do the same thing myself if I had been in your position. Besides, like you said, all's fair in love and war."

Lucca smiled. "Thanks. I'd hug you for this, but..."

"But that I wouldn't forgive!" Marle said, and they both laughed.

Crono walked over to them. Marle looked, and saw that he had an embarrassed, uncomfortable look on his face.

Marle smiled. "Don't worry, I forgive you, too." Changing to a harsher tone, she added, "But you'll have to make it up to me later!" Then she smiled again, and winked.

Crono grinned at her.

Lucca got to her feet. "Well, I guess we should get back to looking for that key."

As Lucca and Crono walked over to the pool, Marle warned them, "No funny stuff, you hear?"

As Crono got in, Lucca turned back to Marle. "Funny stuff? In the middle of a challenge? Good idea! Thanks for the advice." She smiled and jumped in after Crono.

"Hey!" Marle protested.

o-o-o-o

A few minutes later, Ayla climbed out for a short rest.

Meanwhile, Leena headed back to the Red Room, and Marle headed to the yard to go for a dip in the outside pool, which was filled with water, like pools are supposed to be.

o-o-o-o

Despite what Lucca had said, nothing much happened in the pool, other than searching for the key…

…After fifteen minutes or so, even the players who were searching for the key grew bored with the search.

"This is like searching for a needle in a haystack!" Lucca complained, climbing back out of the pool. After a while she decided to take a break.

As he didn't really care about points, and was satisfied with the Red Room's tub, Crono decided to go do something else, as well.

o-o-o-o

About an hour later, Frog popped his head out of the slime, but this time not just to get some air. He held his hand above him- and in it was a key.

Wedge announced, "And the winner is, Gray Team!"

…The teams headed back to their rooms to wash off, then the Gray team headed to the hot tub to celebrate their victory.

o-o-o-o

…Meanwhile, in the Red Room, the Red Team dealt with the results…

"I can't believe we're stuck in our bathing suits until tomorrow!" Leena complained.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Look on the bright side—at least we were allowed to wash off the slime."

"I suppose you're right… and since the Gray team won, Harle won't be running around half-naked… but still…"

"Ayla no see problem. It not cold, why need so much skins?"

Lucca and Leena rolled their eyes.

Leena said, "You just don't understand…"

Lucca glanced over at Crono and Serge to see what they thought of the situation. Crono had been gazing at her, and looked embarrassed at being caught, but Lucca just smiled, struck a seductive pose, and winked at him. He smiled back.

o-o-o-o

The Gray team stayed in the hot tub for quite a while (almost an hour), chatting, goofing around, and just enjoying their victory. Finally, Kid decided she'd had enough for now, and headed back to the Gray Room to change back into her clothes. Korcha followed not long after.

This left Frog, Marle, and Harle. Frog was greatly enjoying himself, until Marle and Harle began making out. With a slightly sick expression, Frog got out of the tub and headed back to the Gray Room.

"Zat was quite kind of monsieur Frog to give us our privacy, no?" Harle said, snuggling closer to Marle, and planting a quick kiss on her lips.

Marle smiled wryly and said, "I don't think it was entirely a matter of kindness, Quin."

"Whatever do you mean?"

Marle put her hands on Harle's shoulders, and pushed her away, holding her at arm's length. "Look, you've been doing a real good job acting like a man, but that doesn't change the fact that you really are a girl. Some people just can't handle seeing relationships like… well, like ours, but… that's another thing. I've really enjoyed spending time with you—and you really helped me through that dare of mine, but… I love Crono. It's time for me to go back to him…"

Harle said, with a slightly pained look, "I… understand."

Marle slowly got out of the tub and, after an apologetic look back, left.

Harle leaned back and gave a resigned sigh. "Oh well. It was fun while it lasted…"

o-o-o-o

As soon as Harle returned to the Gray Room, Frog headed back to the hot tub.

"Wow, he really likes that tub," Kid commented.

Harle shrugged. "Well, he is a frog, after all."

o-o-o-o

The Red team was preparing to play their container-Jenga game, when there was a knock at the door. Robo opened the door to find Marle there, back in her snake-woman costume.

"Can I come in?"

Robo turned to the others, and when Leena shrugged and Crono nodded, he turned back. "Please do, Marle."

Lucca sighed as Marle crawled/slithered in. Looking at her own one-piece bathing-suit, then at Marle in her tail and bikini-top, then finally at the bare-chested Crono, she thought, _Well, I guess the competition begins in earnest now…_

o-o-o-o

Her "relationship" with Marle over, Harle tried to interest Kid in some romance, but Kid refused flatly.

Continuing her search for "love", she headed to the Red room. Observing the goings on, she determined that neither Lucca nor Leena would be receptive to her advances. She still thought Crono was a hunk, but guessed he was "straight", and thus would not easily go for her while she was playing the role of a man.

Just then, Ayla got up and stretched. "Ayla bored. Go do something more active."

As Ayla walked by Harle, Harle smiled, and followed her.

o-o-o-o

"Why Harle follow Ayla?" Ayla demanded, pinning Harle against the Dare-Room wall.

Although surprised, Harle showed no sign of fear. "First of all, my name is Quin. As for why I have followed you, I wanted to tell you how sexy and beautiful I t'ink you are!"

Ayla blinked, and stepped back enough to give Harle some space. "Thank you. Ayla think Quin pretty, too. And strong!"

"Zank you. …By ze way, you must be quite lonely 'ere, 'aving left your boyfriend at 'ome."

"Ayla need no-one! …But is a little lonely. Not used to spend so long without man…"

"I could keep you company, if you'd like," Harle suggested.

Ayla thought about it. "Keno be sad if spend time with another when could spend time with Keno… But Ayla can not be with Keno right now." She looked at Harle and announced, "Quin and Ayla can spend time together."

"Magnifique!"

"But Quin remember, only for now. Keno will always be Ayla's favorite."

"But of course."

Ayla smiled. "Good!"

And with that, she lunged at Harle, gave her a bear hug, and kissed her wildly.

o-o-o-o

That night, Ayla invited Harle to sleep in the Red Room. Harle liked the idea, until they found they couldn't convince Lucca, Leena, or Serge to give up a bed. Deciding the beds in the Gray Room were too small for a couple, they agreed to sleep separately, but meet first thing in the morning in the dungeon for some "exercise"…

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

**Day Eleven**

It was just getting light outside when Ayla and Harle snuck out of their Rooms, and into the dungeon.

"What we do now?" Ayla asked.

"Whatever you wish. However, if you have no ideas, I could suggest some t'ings…"

"Ayla listen."

"Well, I would offer you ze romantic candle-lit dinner, but my team's food supplies are still not very good. Perhaps you would like to skip that part, and move straight to making ze beautiful music together, no? If zat is not rushing it too much for you…"

"Music? But Ayla did not bring drum."

"I did not mean zat kind of music."

"Then what? Ayla no sing well."

"No, not singing, though I could sing for you if you wished."

"Ayla would like that. But first, if not drums or singing, what Quin mean?"

"I mean, zis!" And with that she planted a kiss on Ayla's lips.

Ayla quickly backed away, though she was smiling. "Oh! That 'music'! Ayla want do that too! But no fun if no challenge. You prove you good "play"-mate for Ayla, and Ayla do same for Quin. Quin first—sing!"

And so, Harle launched into a beautiful romantic song…

…When Harle had finished her song, Ayla complimented her on it.

"Quin sing good. Ayla like." Now Ayla dance for Quin." It was a fast and rough sort of dance, but it had its beauty, too.

When Ayla had finished, Harle clapped. "Most impressive. I must zay zat we go quite well together." She walked closer to Ayla.

"Ayla glad Quin like. Quin have more show Ayla?"

"Well… actually, I can do some dancing, myself." And Harle did just that, performing an elegant and seductive dance that somehow still gave an impression of masculinity.

Ayla's eyes widened in awe. Before long, she couldn't help but join in, adapting her own style as best she could, to fit with Harle's.

As they danced, they drew closer, and Harle adapted somewhat to Ayla's style. Harle also began singing again, which allowed Ayla to adapt her style further by dancing to the music.

Of course, as Harle's dance had been sensual to begin with, and her song was as well, both of their dances slowly began to take on erotic overtones. They were soon dancing in front of each other, alternating between sexual poses and touching each other.

…Neither one was quite sure when they stopped dancing, and started just making out. Nor did they stop with kissing and massaging—before they knew it, they were both out of their clothes, eager to fulfill desires that had been denied far too long…

o-o-o-o

Leena, Lucca, and Serge were somewhat reluctant to run around the Funhouse in their bathing suits, but still got up the courage to venture out to eat breakfast. Ayla was late getting to the cafeteria, and when she arrived, her hair and furs were even more a mess than usual, and there were a few wet spots on her furs and skin. She also wore an uncharacteristically vacant smile of contentment.

Crono began to ask what she had been up to, but Lucca stopped him. "I don't think it's something we want to discuss around the dinner-table," Lucca whispered to him. Crono looked at Lucca strangely, then shrugged.

o-o-o-o

After the meal was over, Ayla came out of her daze, and, as if it had never happened, suggested they go do some training after breakfast. Most of the others didn't want to go—it would be too embarrassing to walk the halls in their bathing suits. However, Ayla insisted.

Due to this, Lucca didn't have time to ask Ayla about her morning, but Lucca did find more clues about it when they arrived in the dungeon. Parts of the dungeon floor were damp, and there were two sets of barely visible bare footprints upon the floor.

o-o-o-o

…Before too long, Harle and Marle showed up, to watch the objects of their affections in action (and not much else).

o-o-o-o

…Sometime later, Lucca took Ayla aside, and asked about her morning. Ayla didn't even think twice before telling about her encounter with "Quin".

When Ayla got to the point where their clothes were off and it was obvious where things were going, Lucca cut her off. "I think I'd rather you kept those details to yourself." Lucca shook her head in disbelief. "After the way you looked when you showed up this morning for breakfast I guessed you had had sex, but still... How could you cheat on Kino this way?"

"Cheat? What Lucca mean?"

"You and Kino are a couple, right? Usually that means you don't have sex with any one else, just each other."

Ayla shook her head. "In Ioka, only 'couple' if make promise to be. Ayla and Kino no make promise yet. So what Ayla did not cheating." She frowned. "On other hand, Kino be very jealous and upset if find out. Maybe Ayla should not have done..."

"That was my thought."

o-o-o-o

Before the players knew it, Vicks and Wedge were coming around, letting the Red Team know they could change out of their bathing suits, and letting both teams know they were to meet in the Dare Room, even though it wasn't even quite lunchtime yet.

"We're going to be doing something a little bit different today," Bekkler announced when everyone had gathered in the Dare Room. "You're going to compete in an individual challenge—but there's no penalty for loosing; or for forfeiting, for that matter. It's simply an opportunity to win a prize—a very valuable prize. If you win, you shall receive a life-sized doll of yourself, which you can substitute for yourself in any dares you receive (provided the doll is capable of performing the dare, of course).

"In other words, the winner of this challenge will be able to skip a great many dares and still receive credit for them."

"Wow," Marle commented.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Now that's a good prize."

"If you will come with me, I'll explain the game to you." Bekkler led them to the Dungeon, where he had them stand side by side, in line. (Well, technically, Marle was kneeling, as standing was a dangerous proposition in her snake-woman costume.)

He clapped his hands, and a set of bars at the end of the room rose. Out from it walked eleven figures—each an exact replica of one of the contestants!

"Your Challenge shall be…" Bekkler said, pausing dramatically, "Simon Says!"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Hey, it's those animatronic dolls of us, from the Millennial Fair!"

Those who had not previously visited the Tent of Horrors, however, were quite shocked and bewildered by this turn of events.

"Wha… I have a twin?" Korcha said.

Serge shot at Kid, "I thought you said the worlds were merged! How can there be more than one of each of us anymore?"

Kid turned away from her copy to look at Serge. For a moment, her eyes were as wide as his, then she suddenly became thoughtful. Turning to Lucca, she asked, "Animatronic, you said?"

"That's right. In other words, mindless robots in the shape of living things."

After thinking on this a moment, Serge's eyes lit up. "Oh, like those mannequins in Dead Sea!"

Of course, as Kid was the only one to even remember their earlier adventures, and she missed the whole Dead Sea episode, no one else had any idea what he was talking about…

Korcha and Leena still weren't quite sure what to make of these doubles, but before they could formulate any questions, Bekkler continued, "The game is simple. Each doll will do some random thing, and you must do exactly the same thing as your double. As the Challenge progresses, the moves will come faster, giving you less time to react. Whoever can continue copying their doll the longest, wins.

"Ready? Then, begin!"

As with the game at the Millennial Fair, the dolls did simple things, like raising one arm or the other, laughing, or looking surprised. However, they all did them in different order, forcing each player to concentrate on only what his or her doll was doing.

The first to mess up was Marle, who couldn't help but giggle at how ridiculous her doll looked, and especially at how it kept a straight face the entire time.

Next came Leena, who got lost as the dolls began to speed up.

Crono, Serge, and Frog soon followed, but it was a few minutes before the next mistake, which belonged to Kid. Moments later, Lucca messed up, as well.

Ayla and Korcha lasted a bit longer, but even they couldn't manage to copycat at the rate Robo and Harle turned out to be able to.

The rest of the players watched in awe as these two followed their doubles' movements at a rate so fast it looked more like a choreographed performance than a game of Simon-says… But these dolls were machines, and had the speed and precision of machines. As the movements became so fast it was virtually impossible for the human eye to make out, even Harle's reflexes weren't enough.

Harle knew she had lost, even before Bekkler announced it. Stopping, she clutched her chest and, breathing heavily, turned to watch as Robo continued to move in a blur for a couple seconds longer.

"And, Robo wins!" Bekkler announced. Robo and his doll immediately stopped.

"Robo, that doll is now yours; you may use it as your replacement in any dare it is capable of performing. Please note, however, you are not allowed to reprogram it or control its actions in any way—any dare that requires controlled movement, you shall have to do yourself."

"Understood."

"Very well. You may take your doll back to the Red Room, and you can all go eat. Come back here after lunch, all of you, and we can get to the round's Bonus Dares."

o-o-o-o

After lunch, the teams reassembled in the Dare Room.

"Alright, once again, it's time for the Bonus Dare. First, it's time for you to vote on whether Harle has performed her role-playing dare well."

They all voted, and Bekkler tallied the votes. "Harle, you got ten out of eleven votes. Good job."

"T'ank you."

"Now, Ayla and Frog, as the team winners of the last individual challenge, why don't you come up and spin the wheel."

Frog spun a nine: Magic. Ayla spun a three: Messy Stuff.

"I wonder what kind of magic we're talking about here…" Kid wondered.

Bekkler reminded them, "If you'll place your bets?" Once they had written their bets down, Bekkler had Frog spin again. He got a "9a": " one body part turned to stone indefinitely". A pick of a card gave them the body part: "right arm".

"So, Gray Team, for twelve team points, the four of you of you besides Harle must each agree to have your right arms (except for the hand) turned to stone."

Everyone was shocked. "I didn't even imagine they **had** dares like that in the game…" Lucca commented.

Marle gave a nervous giggle. "Well, that's certainly… different…"

"Absolutely not!" Korcha said. "There's no way I'm doing something like that."

Kid said hesitantly, "We're talking about twelve points though—that's twelve-hundred GP!"

Harle added, "Do not forget ze conversation we had yesterday. We must start getting some team points."

Kid shot her a glance. "That's easy for you to say—you don't have to do this dare."

Bekkler turned to Harle. "While they think that over, why don't you pick a card for your dare?" She got an "8", which meant she would be asked to feign amnesia again.

Then the Red Team spun for their dares. Crono spun a "2": Cover face (except for mouth and eyes) with messy stuff. The Messy Stuff card he picked was Whipped Cream (being food, this would only be for 24 hours).

Lucca spun a Queen, followed by a "2": cover face in messy substance; and a 10b: put messy substance in hair. Picking two cards, she discovered she'd be asked to cover her face in Latex, and put clay mud in her hair. "Oh… my."

Ayla spun a 5: cover palms with messy stuff, and the card she picked was Ice Cream.

Serge spun a 6: cover soles of feet with messy stuff, and the card he picked was gum. "What sort of gum?"

"Our own special chewing gum. It's as stretchy and sticky as bubble gum, but when it dries, it becomes quite tough, like ordinary chewing gum does."

Serge gave a slight nod to indicate that that answered his question, but he looked even more uncertain than before.

Finally, Leena spun a 4: cover skin below neck with messy stuff. "I can't think of any messy thing I'd be willing to coat my body in," she commented, but she picked a card anyway. It was "peat mud". "No, I don't think so," Leena said.

"I see," Bekkler said. "Well, we'll find out how many points you loose in a moment. First, Robo, if you'd spin?"

Robo got "right arm", meaning that arm would be turned to plastic.

Now Bekkler turned back to the Gray Team. "So, what'll it be? Who among you are willing to have an arm turned to stone for the duration of this game?"

"I will!" Marle announced.

"Big surprise there," Lucca commented.

"The rest of us are going to decline—it's just too much, even for that much GP," Kid announced.

"Very well. And your bets?" Frog had bet three, so his points went down to ten. Marle had bet six, so her points went up to 22. Korcha had bet three, so he went down to four. Kid still had no points, so her score stayed the same, as did that of Harle, who accepted her amnesia role.

Now things came back to the Red team.

"Crono?"

"Yeah, I'll do it." He had bet 4 points, so his score rose to 14.

"What about you, Lucca?"

"I… I'm still not sure. I mean, I don't mind getting a little messy from time to time, but this is still strange… Er, Crono, what do you think?"

Crono shrugged.

"You don't care? So, seeing me dirty won't… bother you, at all?"

He smiled, and shook his head.

Lucca looked a little bit surprised at this. "Well, in that case… why not? Alright, Bekkler, I'll do it!" As she had bet five points, her points rose to 14.

Neither Leena nor Marle could believe their ears. Leena looked almost disgusted, while Marle was in awe. "I don't believe it! I don't think I would have been able to do that…Yay! Go Lucca!"

Lucca gave her a smirk.

Now Bekkler turned to Ayla. "So, what do you say to having Ice Cream on you hands for twenty four hours?"

"Ayla no mind messy hands. Give Ayla points." She had bet a full six, so her points rose to 18.

"And Serge? Will you cover the soles of your feet with gum?"

"…I don't know. It would be awful messy…"

"Hence the term, 'Messy Stuff'."

"And this would be until the end of the game?"

"That's correct."

"Hmm…" He glanced at Leena.

She shrugged. "I think it's totally disgusting, but don't let that stop you if you want to do it. I mean, it's not your feet that make me like you."

Serge hesitated a moment, then turned back to Bekkler and shook his head. "No, I think I'll skip this one." He had bet three points, so his points dropped to 5.

"And Leena, I assume you haven't changed your mind about forfeiting your dare?" Bekkler asked.

"That's right."

"And your bet?"

As she hadn't expected to like a "Messy" dare, she had only bet one point. Her points dropped to five.

Bekkler clapped his hands and smiled. "All right, then. Time to start your dares." He turned to Robo. "Would you like me to turn your right arm to plastic, or you doll's? Or, as always, you could refuse."

Robo paused a moment, then answered, "Transformation to plastic decreases optimum performance level. Please apply transformation to my duplicate."

"Here we go, then!" He waved his hands around, and muttered something. In the Red Room, Robo's double's right arm turned to plastic.

Bekkler turned to Marle. "And what about you? Are you ready to have your arm turned to stone?"

She gulped, and nodded. Bekkler waved his hands around again, and muttered something else. Blue sparkles flew from his hands, and swirled around her right arm. Everyone stared in fascination as the arm changed from pale tan to gray; its texture seeming to become the slightest bit rougher… Her shoulder also lowered a bit, under the increased weight.

She hadn't had her arms in any particular position: they had just been hanging down, their natural balance giving the elbow the slightest of a bend… Her arm remained in this position as she lifted it to examine it.

"Weird," Marle said. She touched the arm with her left hand, running her hand along it. "I can't feel a thing…" She rapped on it. "…And it feels just like real stone…"

"Oh, it is," Bekkler assured her.

She then touched her right hand. "But I can still feel things with my hand… and move it, for that matter." She wiggled her fingers, to demonstrate.

Bekkler nodded. "The spell is designed to transfer blood and nerve impulses through the stone magically."

Marle waved her arm around (somewhat clumsily), but it remained perfectly stiff. "I can't bend it one bit! This is just like that cast I had—only at least it's just my arm…"

"So, are you okay with this? If at any point you wish to forfeit the dare, we can instantly undo the spell."

"No, I'm fine. It's just weird, that's all." She smiled and giggled a bit. "Actually, I think this could be kind of fun."

Serge, Lucca, Korcha, Kid, and Frog all looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Well," Bekkler concluded, "Harle, you may begin your dare, and the rest of you who are performing dares may head to the Supply Room to get what you need."

They acknowledged this, and he departed.

Harle looked thoughtful. "Who was that? For zat matter, who am I?"

Marle shook her head and smiled. "Here we go again!"

As those who needed to headed for the supply room, Ayla asked, "Ayla just think. What is 'Ice Cream'?"

There was a loud "thud", as everyone fell down.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

Next time on the Funhouse: The fun continues, as the Red Team gets messy, and Marle gets used to her transformed arm. But, who can handle the round's final challenge, and who can't? The answer is important—the two people who do the worst will have to face either even more dares, or… eviction! Find out who stays, who goes, and who makes even more of a fool of themselves, in the next outrageous episode of "the Funhouse"!

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

Author's Note: The fact that this chapter is ready so soon after the last one is a fluke. (I had to do some last minute revising of the last chapter, and I majorly procrastinated on it…) Don't expect rapid updating to become a common occurrence! (I have four or five other stories I'm working on at the same time, and I also have something vaguely akin to a life…)

Oh, and another thing—please don't ask for details about Harle and Ayla's encounter… First of all, it would definitely take things out of "R" and into "NC-17"… and secondly, I'm sure many of you could come up with much more interesting ideas of what went on than I could. …In fact, if anyone wants to write that scene, let me know.


	14. Episode Twelve

Author's Note: Sorry about the delay… again. I'd promise to get the next chapter out faster… but by now I think anyone who's been reading my stories a while will know exactly how much **that** would mean. I have no intention of stopping this tale until it's done, though, so if you have a Fanfiction Dot Net account, set me to your author alerts (if you haven't already), or just keep checking back every few weeks._ …_Oh, and as always, please review!

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

Episode Twelve

Previously: Gray team won the right to use the Hot Tub, while Red team had to wear their bathing suits all day. A challenge was held in which the contestants had to copy the movements of mechanical duplicates of themselves. Robo won this challenge, and with it a doll he could use to stand-in for him in certain dares. Then, in the Bonus Dare, most of Red Team agreed to get messy, while Marle had her right arm turned to stone.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Character Scoreboard:

**Red Team:**  
Team Points: 12**  
**Team Prizes: Access to Cafeteria

_***Crono:  
**_Conditions: (not yet begun: whipped cream on face (24 hours))  
Points: 14

_***Lucca**__:  
_Conditions: (not yet begun: latex on face (~), clay mud in hair (~))  
Points: 14

_***Robo**__:  
_(Serial Dare X: "Metamorphosis" into action figure.)  
Conditions: Head, right foot plastic  
Points: 72

**(Robo Doll)**:  
Conditions: Head, right foot, right arm plastic

_***Ayla**__:  
_Conditions: (not yet begun: Ice Cream on palms (24 hours))  
Points: 12

_***Serge**__:  
_Conditions: none  
Points: 5

_***Leena**__:  
_Conditions: none  
Points: 4

.

**Gray Team  
**Team Points: 0  
Team Prizes: Access to Yard, Hot Tub

_***Frog**__:  
_Conditions: None  
Points: 10

_***Marle**__:  
_Clothing: snake-woman costume with bikini top  
Condition: right arm turned to stone.  
Points: 22

_***Korcha**__:  
_Conditions: none  
Points: 4

_***Kid  
**_Conditions: none  
Points: 0

_***Harle**__:  
_(Serial Dare VI: "Identity Crisis")  
Conditions: act as if had amnesia (until next bonus)  
Points: 66

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Day Eleven Continued (Round 3, Part 3)

"Isn't that stone arm heavy?" Kid asked, watching Marle awkwardly crawl/slither along, her stiff right arm giving her a strange sort of "limp".

Suddenly, Marle collapsed to the floor, apparently overwhelmed by her arm's weight.

Korcha laughed, and Kid gave her an annoyed look.

"Kidding!" Marle said, picking herself up. "Seriously, it is a little bit heavy, but not too bad. I wouldn't want to have to hold it up for too long, but other than that, it's no big deal. Trying to move around with it frozen in position, that's a little more challenging."

Kid shuddered. "I still can't believe you can do things like wear that snake-tail and the body cast you got, and let your arm be petrified… And you seem so cheerful about it, to boot!"

Frog added, "Indeed, thine bravery dost astound me."

Korcha said with a smile, "Face it, she's just plain kinky. She **likes** being helpless!"

Marle protested, "I am **not '**kinky'! And I don't like being helpless, either. I just... don't mind it too much, when I know I'm safe…"

Korcha shrugged. "If cha say so…" He didn't sound convinced.

Harle spoke up. "So, I take it, zis 'kinky', it is a bad thing?"

"Well, yeah… I mean, isn't it…?"

Kid said, "It means you're strange. Weather that makes it bad, I guess depends on weather you think 'strange' is bad…"

Frog spoke up. "If to be unusual is to be 'bad', then I must be unwelcome in the world of man, for in mine present form, I am most unusual. Indeed, one could say that all of our traveling companions are quite unusual… A mechanical man… a woman with the strength of ten men… a lass as intelligent and clever as the wisest and craftiest old men… and a young man who leads with almost nary a word… -These are not, methinks, the sorts of people one might meet every day."

"You have a point there," Marle conceded.

"And furthermore, thou art a princess. Is it therefore not appropriate that thou shouldst be accepting of; nay, even find comfort in, bonds? After all, 'tis a common theme in tales of romance and adventure that the princess shall be captured by the villain, and rescued by her true love."

Marle stared at him skeptically. "I don't think that's quite it, Frog. In face, I'm not sure I even see your point."

Frog halted for a moment, blinked, and croaked. He then resumed walking, and said, "Pay it no mind. 'Twas of no import…"

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, Crono, Lucca, and Ayla, headed for the supply room.

Marian greeted them cheerfully. "Hello. We've got quite a catch today, don't we?"

Lucca rolled her eyes.

Getting right down to business, Marian called out Anar and Reton. When they came over, she said, "Anar, Reton, why don't you take Crono and Ayla to the refrigerator and help them with their dares? I'll assist Lucca—If that's all right with you, contestants?"

Crono nodded, and Ayla and Lucca agreed.

Anar and Reton led Crono and Ayla to another part of the storeroom, where there was a large refrigerator.

"All right, we need Ice Cream and Whipped Cream, right?" Reton asked. Anar nodded. Reton opened the door and began searching for the whipped cream.

Anar turned to Ayla. "I guess I'm supposed to ask you, what flavor Ice Cream do you want?"

Ayla shrugged. "Ayla no care."

Anar gave a slight smile, then ducked into the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, Reton had gotten out a container of Whipped Cream, and handed it to Crono. "I assume you can do this yourself?"

Crono nodded. He pulled off the lid of the container, stuck his hand into the cream, and taking a large gob of it, began smearing it on his face.

Anar came out of the refrigerator with a carton of Carmel Swirl Ice Cream, which he opened for Ayla.

"You need any help?" He asked.

Reton raised an eyebrow. "To put ice cream on her hands? Why would she need any help with that?!"

"I, er, was just being polite, that's all," Anar said nobly.

"Polite? You?! …There's a first time for everything, I suppose…"

Meanwhile, Ayla had dug her hands into the ice cream. "Ooh! Cold." She pulled out two handfuls, and licked one. "Tastes good!" She began eating the ice cream off of her hands.

"Er, don't forget you're supposed to leave some on your palms," Reton reminded her.

Anar turned his attention to Crono, who had covered his entire face in a thin layer of whipped cream.

"Hey," Anar complained, "you can do better than that!" He grabbed a big handful of the stuff, and smushed it onto Crono's face before Crono could react.

Crono wiped the cream off his eyes, and scowled at Anar, prompting Anar to begin laughing.

o-o-o-o

In another part of the supply room,. Marion was busy preparing the supplies for Lucca's dares.

"While you wait, why don't you pick out which color latex you'd like—we just got a shipment in the other day, so you have a lot of options."

Lucca studied the many cans of latex. There was clear, "basic black", white, silver, gold, bronze, and the basic colors of the rainbow.

Soon, Marian came back in, carrying a big bucket of gray mud, which she put down near a chair in the center of the "room".

Lucca told her, "I think I'll go with the purple."

"Good choice—it'll match your hair. Not that anyone will be able to see much of your hair with the mud in it..."

"Uh, yeah…"

"Oh! I forgot—you'll want to shave before we apply the latex."

"Shave…? Oh, that's right, Marle mentioned that she had to before you applied the latex to her. It also made a pretty nasty stain on one of her outfits—it must bond to any fibrous material, I take it?"

Marion blinked. "Uh, yes. And even the smallest hair could get stuck to it, making removal quite painful."

"So I guess my eyebrows will have to go. And it wouldn't hurt to give the rest of my face a once over, to get rid of any other hair, even if we're just talking about hair so small it's next-to-impossible to see."

"Yes. Follow me, I'll show you to a place where you can take care of that."

"…Wait!" Lucca said, holding up her hand.

"Yes?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "I'm supposed to wear this latex mask for the rest of the game, right?"

"That's correct."

"And, I just remembered, Marle said that once it was fully dry, the latex stopped sticking to her skin, and only stayed on because it was so tight."

"Oh, really? I believe the directions for the latex might have said something about that."

"So, how are we going to make sure my latex mask won't fall off?"

"That's a good question…"

Lucca adjusted her glasses again. "Why don't we just apply the latex without having me shave first?"

"Well, that would keep it on, all right, but it would be quite painful when we finally did go to remove it, after the game."

"Oh, right. Hmm…"

o-o-o-o

"You probably shouldn't bother waiting for Lucca—she could be a while," Reton told Crono and Ayla.

Crono nodded, and he and Ayla headed for the door.

As they walked back to the Red Room, Ayla sneaked in several more licks to the (now thin) layer of ice cream on her hands.

o-o-o-o

After a bit of discussion, Marion and Lucca decided to attach strings to the "mask" to tie it to Lucca's head.

Lucca took off her helmet and glasses, and shaved her face, including her eyebrows. After Lucca dried her face, Marion had her sit on the stool in the area with the supplies for her dare. Marian then painted on the first layer of purple latex, being careful not to get any in Lucca's eyes and mouth, or on her eyelids and lips. While they waited for it to dry, Marion stirred up the clay mud, poured a little bit onto Lucca's bare head (causing her to shiver a bit), and began mixing it into the hair like a shampoo.

"Wow, this already feels a little tighter," Lucca commented.

"The latex, you mean?" Marion asked, as she added some more of the mud to Lucca's hair.

"Yeah."

"I guess I should do another layer, then." Marion wiped off her hands, and taking the foam latex-brush, painted another layer of the latex onto Lucca's face.

"I can't believe I'm letting you put mud in my hair and liquid rubber on my face… Maybe I shouldn't have let Marle talk me into playing this 'Funhouse'…"

"Please don't move your mouth, this is sensitive work." Marion said.

Lucca decided the best reply to that was to be quiet.

When Marion had finished with the layer of latex, she went back to adding mud to Lucca's hair. As she did so, she said, "You may have been talked into playing this game, but you weren't talked into doing this dare, were you?"

"Well… no. But I had to start building up some points sooner or later, right?"

"The points are only a way of determining how much money you win at the end. Is the money that important to you?"

"No! Of course not…"

"Then why are you performing the dare?"

"Well, I…" Lucca wasn't quite sure how to answer. Finally, as Marion stood back to decide if she'd mixed enough mud into Lucca's hair yet, Lucca said, "It's not that I'm opposed to these dares. It's just that they seem so… **weird**…"

"Well, of course. Haven't you figured it out yet? That's the whole point of the Funhouse—to allow people a chance to do totally bizarre things, in a safe, secluded setting."

Lucca thought about that for a moment, while Marion got some strings.

"I'm going to attach the strings now, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I guess."

Choosing several spots at the edges of Lucca's latex-covered face as anchors, Marion stuck the ends of the strings on the currently sticky latex, then pulled them around to the back of Lucca's head, being careful not to pull them loose. She then straightened out Lucca's hair, patting it down to lie flat. In the process, the strings were covered up, except for a few inches at the spot where Marion planned on tying them together. Letting the back ends of the strings hang loose, she then painted another layer of latex onto Lucca's face, this time covering over the ends of the strings.

"Now, try not to move your face or head while this layer dries," Marion instructed. As before, Lucca responded by not responding.

When she felt the latex had dried enough, she took the strings and gave them a test tug. Satisfied with the results, she tied off the ends, then covered the knot with some of Lucca's thick-with-drying-mud hair.

"Almost done, now. Oh, and you can talk now."

"Thanks."

Marion walked around Lucca, trying to decide what more she should do. Deciding Lucca's hair could use some more mud, she took some and began spreading it over the surface of Lucca's mass of hair and mud.

"About what you were saying earlier," Lucca spoke up, "—you know, about the purpose of the Funhouse? –I think you're right. And maybe the reason I agreed to this—and to these dares—is because I wanted to cut loose a little myself, you know?" Lucca gave an uncertain smile.

Marion smiled. "Makes perfect sense to me."

"It's just strange, that's all. I never really thought I had any interest in stuff this crazy!"

"One never knows."

o-o-o-o

"So, do I get to lick the whipped cream off your face?" Marle asked Crono, leaning forward onto her stone arm.

"Uh, once the dare's over…"

Marle giggled.

Meanwhile, Robo was telling Ayla, "Continued consumption of the substance on your palms is inadvisable. You have touched several things (such as the doorknob), that are likely to be high in dangerous microbes. Furthermore, you shall soon have consumed all of the ice cream, and thus be in violation of your dare."

Ayla brushed his comments aside. "If Ayla run out of ice cream, Ayla go get more."

o-o-o-o

When Lucca returned to the apartments, she quickly became the center of attention. She had put her glasses back on, but had left her helmet off, to keep it clean. As it turned out, this was just as well, as everybody wanted to get a good look at both her face and her hair. Marle and Ayla even had to touch them—even though Ayla ended up getting ice cream on Lucca's face.

Lucca blushed at all the attention; thankfully, no one could see the color of her face.

"What does it feel like?" Marle wanted to know.

"Well, the latex is tight—tighter than I expected. I can feel it clinging to my face with every movement of my facial muscles… As for the clay mud, it's mostly wet and heavy."

o-o-o-o

After everybody was done quizzing the new dare performers about their dares, there was still a little bit of time for some sparring practice, then it was time for supper.

Marle had already had to do some adjusting due to her rigid right arm—opening doors was a bit of a challenge, for instance. She now had another new challenge to face, as her magical handicap left her having to feed herself one-handed.

o-o-o-o

After the meal, Ayla went to get some more ice cream for her hands, while the Gray Team enjoyed some time out in the yard, watching the sun set.

o-o-o-o

As Lucca got ready for bed, she looked in the mirror at herself. Her face was purple, and shiny, while her hair was a dull gray. She touched her hair, feeling the nearly dry mud. It was a little dusty, but otherwise quite solid. Almost as if she were still wearing her helmet…

"Very weird," she commented to herself.

o-o-o-o

Lucca had resigned herself to getting her pillow dirty, but she had overlooked the fact that her "helmet" of hair made the pillow irrelevant. As she lay down, she discovered that whether her head was on the pillow, or on the mattress itself, she couldn't feel the pillow. "It's like sleeping with my helmet on…" Pushing the pillow aside, she tried to find a comfortable position.

Meanwhile, Crono made sure to lay down on the couch so that his face was facing outward, thus hopefully minimizing the risk of his getting whipped cream on the couch.

Ayla, on the other hand, paid no heed to her sticky, melted-ice-cream covered hands as she curled up on the chair, much to the annoyance of the others.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

_Day Twelve (Round Three, Part 3 Continued)_

Late that night, Kid woke to find Marle tossing and turning wildly in her sleep.

Kid got out of bed and shook Marle. "Marle, wake up!"

It took a little bit, but finally, Marle woke up. "Wha—Kid? …Thanks for waking me up. I was having a really bad dream."

"Yeah, I kinda guessed. You were tossin' an' turnin' like crazy. Parta why I woke up."

"Oh. Sorry about that…"

"Nah, it's all right. Not yer fault." Kid sat down on the edge of her bed. "…So, wanna' talk about it?"

"Well… I dreamed I was turning to stone. Not just my arm, but my whole body! It—It started with my arm, then my legs… Then it was all but my head, just like when I was in that cast… I was trying and trying to move, but I just couldn't…"

"That's quite the nightmare. Guess it's 'cause of your arm?"

"…Yeah, I guess. It's really freaky, having my arm changed like this…" Marle cradled her stone arm in her other arm.

"I can imagine. …But… I thought you liked this…?"

"I do! Well, sort of. I like the craziness of it… and the challenge of trying to do things without moving my elbow… or walking, for that matter. It's just… sometimes, I miss my freedom, you know?"

"…Yeah…" Kid moved over and patted Marle on the back. "Don't worry though—remember, this is all a game. You don't have to take on any dares you don't want to, you can forfeit old dares, and if it comes down to it, you can always quit the game."

"…I suppose…"

"Come on," Kid said, starting to smile, "don't be like this! If you can't be your usual perky self, it'll be up to me to keep the team's spirits up—and trust me, you don't want to see my attempts at morale boosting."

Marle smiled back mildly. "Oh… alright. I'll try to enjoy myself."

"That's the spirit."

"…You know, though," Marle said, her smile turning sly, "it might be a little easier for me to handle my dares if the rest of the team would perform some from time to time…"

"Oh no, I'm not going to let you talk me into doing anything crazy!" Kid said with mock apprehension. They both laughed.

o-o-o-o

In the morning, Crono discovered he had ended up getting some whipped cream on the couch, despite his best efforts. Ayla, of course, had gotten a bit of ice-cream on the chair; enough so that she had to stop by the supply room for more.

o-o-o-o

The rest of the morning went rather normally, aside from Crono's cream-covered face causing laughs from the others, Lucca's latex and clay combo eliciting stares, and the "amnesiac" Harle needing to have everything explained for her.

Crono, Marle, and Lucca spent some time together mending their relationship, Frog spent more time in the hot-tub, and Ayla got ice-cream on Serge, Korcha, and Harle when she sparred with them.

Then, after lunch at noon, Vicks, Wedge, and Piette informed Crono and Ayla that they could remove the whipped & ice cream. All members of both teams were to then put on their normal bathing suits and report to the Dare Room.

Ayla immediately began licking the ice cream from her hands.

Lucca, meanwhile, said to Crono seductively, "I wouldn't mind helping you get that whipped cream off."

Marle put her left hand on her hip (her right arm not being mobile enough for that). "Hey, Crono promised that I could lick the cream off!"

Lowering her voice, and looking around to make sure no one else was listening, Lucca complained, "But, you got to lick the pie off his face last time."

"Oh, fine, we'll share him. Okay?"

"It's not the same... But I suppose… That okay with you, Crono?"

Crono nodded, glad the whipped cream hid his blushing.

o-o-o-o

Borrowing the Red Room bathroom, Marle & Lucca got down to business.

"I'll go first," Lucca said, beginning to lick the cream off Crono's right cheek.

"Why take turns?" Marle asked, attacking the cream on Crono's left cheek.

Crono began to overheat a bit, having two beautiful girls he liked licking his face at the same time. He also was glad yet again that he wore loose pants.

Lucca worked her way up the side of Crono's face, and Marle followed suit. They met in the middle of his forehead, and Crono could feel the tips of their warm, wet tongues touch for a moment.

Lucca jerked away. "Marle, what was that?!"

"Um... My tongue?" Marle said innocently.

Lucca scowled. "Marle, doing this with you around is hard enough for me, I don't need you making it harder."

Marle giggled. "Sorry. I guess I got over enthused. It won't happen again."

Lucca hesitated, then nodded. She moved back up to Crono's face to lick at the cream at the lower end of his cheek, and on his chin, while Marle licked off the cream on his nose.

Marle gave Lucca a little bit of space as Lucca came in for the kill, licking the cream off from around Crono's lips, then turning it into a kiss. Marle went for the last bits of cream on the lower part of his left cheek, then pulled away from Crono's face to whisper in Lucca's ear, "I know I said I wouldn't make this any harder, but I just had an idea I think Crono would like."

"Hmm?" Lucca intoned, not breaking the kiss.

Not bothering to answer or give further warning, Marle moved her face back over to Crono's, then pushed Lucca to the side just enough to join in on the kiss.

Crono and Lucca's eyes widened as they found themselves in a 3-way kiss. After getting over the surprise, Crono decided to go with the flow, and open his mouth to touch tongues with Marle.

Lucca hesitated a few moments, not entirely comfortable being part of a kiss with Marle, but not wanting to give up the kiss she'd been having with Crono. Of course, this close to the two of them it was hard to ignore how much Marle and Crono were getting into their part of the kiss, and before long Lucca's competitive streak kicked in and she opened her mouth and shoved her tongue into Crono's mouth, determined that Crono would enjoy her side of the kiss as much as Marle's. She did, however, do her best to avoid Marle's tongue while she did this.

Of course, now that Lucca saw it as a competition, she couldn't be the first one to break the kiss, and Marle was enjoying herself too much to think of stopping. Thus it fell to Crono to pull back after a few minutes and point out reluctantly, "We need to get in our bathing suits."

Marle said, "Oh, right. Everyone's probably waiting for us by now."

Lucca nodded. "You're right, we need to get going." She adjusted her glasses. "By the way, I hope you enjoyed that, Crono - because making out with you alongside Marle is not something I plan on repeating."

Marle said, "Oh, don't make such a big deal about it - that wasn't so bad. ...But still, I wouldn't want to make a habit of it either. But you did like it, right Crono?"

Crono grinned, and nodded.

o-o-o-o

…Later, when everyone had changed into their bathing suits, they assembled in the Dare Room, and Bekkler led them to the Challenge Room.

The pool there was once again filled with slime.

"Today's individual challenge will test your tolerance for messy stuff, and your ability to tread water. The challenge: tread slime! If you forfeit the challenge, give up, or your head goes below the surface and remains there for over five seconds, you're out. The player that stays above slime the longest wins 6 points. Meanwhile, as nobody left the house in the last round, the first **two** players out must face the Eviction Challenge."

Marle sighed. "I was afraid of this. My dares keep getting in the way of challenges—there's no way I can tread water like this!" Even though she had been allowed to change into a bathing suit, her arm was still stone.

"Why don't you try?" Lucca suggested, adjusting her glasses.

Kid agreed. "Yeah, these dares could really start to add up, otherwise."

"…But, it's slime-! It's so disgusting."

Lucca smiled encouragingly. "It's not that bad. Isn't this the sort of thing you wanted from the Funhouse?"

"Well… sort of… I guess… Oh, alright, I'll try."

…Leena, however, decided to sacrifice her 5 points and risk the Eviction Dares and Challenge, rather than take a dip in the slime pool.

o-o-o-o

And so, the challenge began!

As it turned out, it was a good thing Marle chose to participate, as even Robo's mechanical speed, strength, and endurance were not enough to make up for the fact that his sheer weight made swimming an "iffy" proposition. He had to move his legs and arms so fast they were barely visible—an effort that quickly began to drain his fuel-cells. Before long, he had to quit.

Marle's legs weren't as strong as she'd have liked, after not having been used very much recently, and that, along with her stone arm, caused her to soon sink below the surface long enough to be disqualified. She climbed out of the pool, and began playing around with the slime in her hand. "I still think it's disgusting… but it's kind of fun too… Makes me wish I'd gone in last time!"

Lucca was next, followed by Crono, then Kid.

Having been raised near the ocean, Serge was a pretty good swimmer, and lasted quite a while. However, he was the next to sink, followed by Harle, Ayla, and finally Korcha.

"'Shoulda' known Frog'd win," Korcha commented as he climbed out of the pool.

Bekkler made it official. "Frog wins 6 points! Robo and Leena, please come with me to the Dare Room, where we'll see what you need to do to stay in the game."

What dares await our two potential evictees? Shall both of them stay in the game, or will the house have one or two people less very soon? Find out, on the next out-of-this world episode of the Funhouse!


	15. Episode Thirteen, Finally!

Author's Note: Thanks for the kick in the tail, "Someone". I needed that!

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

Episode 13

(Round Three, Part Three, Continued)

Previously: Crono wore whipped cream on his face for a day, Ayla wore ice cream on her hands for a day, and Lucca started wearing purple latex on her face, and clay-mud in and on her hair. Meanwhile, Marle got used to her right arm being made of stone. Then, the players performed the individual challenge, "Treading slime". Leena refused, thus loosing 6 points and setting herself up for the Eviction Dares & Rescue Challenge. Robo did the worst in the slime-treading challenge, and thus must also face the possibility of Eviction. Finally, Frog won the challenge.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Character Scoreboard:

**Red Team** (Team points: 12):  
Team Prizes: Cafeteria

_***Crono:  
**_Points: 14

_***Lucca**__:  
_Conditions: latex on face (~), clay mud in hair (~)  
Points: 14

_***Robo**__:  
_(Serial Dare X: "Metamorphosis" into action figure.)  
Conditions: Head, right foot plastic  
Points: 72

**(Robo Doll)**:  
Conditions: Head, right foot, right arm plastic

_***Ayla**__:  
_Points: 18

_***Serge**__:  
_Points: 5

_***Leena**__:  
_Points: 0

.

**Gray Team** (team points: 0):  
Team Prizes: Yard, Hot Tub

_***Frog**__:  
_Points: 16

_***Marle**__:_  
Clothing: Naga-ette costume  
Condition: right arm turned to stone  
Points: 22

_***Korcha**__:  
_Points: 4

_***Kid  
**_Points: 0

_***Harle**__:  
_(Serial Dare VI: "Identity Crisis")  
Conditions: act as if had amnesia (until next bonus)  
Points: 66

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

**Day Twelve Continued**

"Leena, who would you like to participate in your Eviction/Rescue Challenge?"

"Serge… Lucca… and, er… Ayla."

"Very well. And Robo?"

"I would like the assistance of Lucca, Marle, and Harle."

Marle protested, "Me? But I can't walk or move my elbow! How am I supposed to do anything to help you?!"

"With 3 players, significant movement is only required of one. Furthermore, your aim should be invaluable."

"If you say so…"

Bekkler now told Leena to spin the Dare wheel to find out what dares she'd need to perform to get her chosen players on her team.

For Serge, she spun a IV 10a—hogtied for 6 hours.

"What!?"

Bekkler raised an eyebrow.

"Well… I guess I could do that to stay in the game with Serge… I suppose…" she said reluctantly.

For Lucca, she spun a King. Of the three resulting dares, the first was a VIII 1b (Trade chosen article of clothing with chosen player); and the second a I 3b (Trade 1 layer of clothing –Layer 3: Jacket & Hat or equivalent accessories—with random player: Serge).

Bekkler pulled out some papers. "According to your charts, that would mean you would give Serge your shawl & headband—though he doesn't have to wear them—and you would have to wear his vest & bandanna under most circumstances—assuming he'd let you."

"I… guess that isn't too bad. You will let me, right?"

Serge nodded.

Leena now spun for the third of the dares she'd need to do to get Lucca. She got VII 7b—stay in bed for 24 hours (except for bathroom breaks).

Marle commented, "Gee, she's really getting the interesting ones!"

Finally, for Ayla, Leena spun a Queen, then a I 8c- wear socks on your hands for 24 hours; and a I 5b- switch 2 layers of clothing indefinitely (Layer 3 & Layer 1).

Bekkler explained, "This means you'd be wearing Serge's vest under your shirt, and your bra, underwear, and socks over the rest of your clothes."

Leena just stared. "That's just… No. I'll do without Ayla."

"As you wish. Robo, why don't you spin for your dares?"

For Lucca, Robo spun a Jack. "Oh, free! Nice one!" Bekkler commented.

For Marle, he spun a King. Fist was a III 4- cover skin below neck with a messy substance (latex); second was a VIII 3- spread moderate amount of chosen messy substance over chosen body part; and third a IV 7—wear a pair of casts (left & right short leg casts).

And for Harle, he spun I 4—switch placement of a pair of clothing articles: "pants" (leather tassels) & "shirt" (nothing).

"In other words, you would wear your tassels over your chest instead of at your waist."

"Understood."

"…Now, Leena, what is your decision regarding these dares?"

"Well, I…" She took a deep breath. "I guess I'll perform my dares for Serge and Lucca…"

"That would be wearing Serge's vest & bandanna indefinitely, trading another article of clothing with any player you wish, staying in bed for 24 hours, and starting that with 6 hours hogtied. Are you willing to do all that?"

Leena gulped. She glanced over at Serge, took a deep breath, and said, "Yes, I suppose so."

"Very well. And what shall be the other traded article?"

"Um…" Leena thought about this for a while. Finally, she looked at Serge. "Maybe we could… trade socks?"

Serge shrugged, and nodded.

Bekkler said, "All right, then! You can go pack, then in half-an-hour, head down to the Eviction Challenge room. Now, Robo, what will you do?"

"I shall have my duplicate perform all of the dares I received today, and for the second dare to recruit Marle, I shall cover the duplicate's head in latex, in the same manner as the body."

"Okay. You can go get ready, then head down to the Eviction Challenge room with Leena and her recruits."

"Acknowledged."

o-o-o

As they walked back to the Red Room, Lucca commented to Robo, "You know, I'm surprised you don't get Jacks all the time- I know you could if you wanted to."

"Yes. However, that might bother those who do not have the ability to control when the wheel stops. I already have my duplicate to perform dares, and this game is not of great importance to me. It seemed unneeded to choose where the wheel would stop."

"Yeah, well... Okay... But, for what it's worth, it does matter to me whether or not you're around..."

Robo paused for a moment, then nodded.

...Meanwhile, Serge was telling Leena, "You know, you don't have to go through with all those dares if you don't want to - we could both just leave the game."

"No. I'm not looking forward to these dares, but this game's been fun so far - let's just see how it goes."

Serge shrugged. "Okay."

o-o-o

Before long, Robo and Leena were packed, and they headed down to the Funhouse entrance with Serge, Lucca, Marle, and Harle.

Bekkler arrived moments later. "Hello again. Let's get right down to it, all right? Leena, as you forfeited the challenge, why don't you go first?"

Leena nodded. The next instant, the end of a rope dropped from the ceiling, and wrapped around her, before hoisting her over the fake fire. Marle and Lucca, having known this was coming, couldn't help but be amused by Leena's shocked and mildly indignant expression.

Serge and Lucca took their spots at the piles of stones, then the Poyozos were released...

As in the other Rescue Challenges, Serge and Lucca threw stones at the Poyozos to scare them off, and Serge also took on the task of hitting the switch to keep Leena out of the flame. As Serge and Lucca weren't used to working together, there were some close calls, but finally, after several minutes, they managed to scare off the monsters.

Leena was put back on her feet and released, and Bekkler announced, "Looks like you'll be staying with us a bit longer, Leena. Now, are you ready to take your turn, Robo?"

"Affirmative." The rope took Robo up, and Marle and Harle took Serge's place at the stones. With three crack-shots at the stones, Robo was rescued in no time.

"Well," Bekkler announced, "that's that - it looks like we have another round gone by with no one leaving... We'll just have to see what happens at the end of the next round, when **three** people have to face eviction! Heh heh heh." With that, Bekkler floated off, leaving Wedge to lead them back to the living quarters.

o-o-o

Robo carried his "Clone" into the Supply Room. "I am here to perform my dare," he announced.

Marian nodded. "I hear we're going to do quite a number on that thing. All right, bring it with you, and follow me."

...Meanwhile, in the bathroom of the Red Room, Serge was pulling on Leena's purple socks. "I don't see why I have to wear these - it's embarrassing!"

"Oh, come on, they look good on you," she said as she pulled off her shawl. "Look, I know you technically don't **have** to wear the clothes I traded to you, but can't you do it to support me?"

"I suppose..."

"Thank you!" She gave him a kiss, which changed Serges perspective on things.

Next, Serge pulled off his vest and put on her shawl, while she pulled on his white socks. Finally, she took off her headband, he took off his bandanna, and they helped each other put the other one on.

Serge put on his boots, and surveyed himself in the mirror. "I still say I look ridiculous," he pouted.

Joining him in front of the mirror, Leena wrapped her arms around Serge and gave him another kiss. "You do not! The socks just add a little color, and the headband goes with your whole 'tough fighter' thing... As for the shawl, hmm..." She adjusted it on him, until she got it to look like it belonged as part of the outfit. "There, I knew it! All it needed was a little re-arranging."

Serge shrugged reluctantly. "I suppose." It still wasn't really his style, but it was closer to it than Lynx's body or his Miki costume, so he could deal with it.

"Well," Leena said, raising her eyebrows calmly, "I suppose, if I'm going to be spending the rest of the day in bed, I should get into my nightgown..."

Serge nodded. "All right. See you in a little bit." Emboldened by the kisses she'd given him, he gave her a kiss; then he headed out.

While she slipped out of her dress, Leena thought about what was coming. At first, she'd been dreading the thought of being hogtied - until she's been grabbed by that rope in the Rescue Challenge. She wasn't used to the adrenalin surge that had given her - and much to her surprise, she found she sort of liked the feeling. Even after the initial shock of being "captured" had worn off, she'd still found her helplessness exiting. (Dangling in the air over what looked like a roaring fire wasn't exactly calming, either!)

She wasn't sure what to make of all this, but the upshot was she was almost looking forward to being tied up, if only to find out what she thought about it.

...When she stepped out (wearing her nightgown, and Serge's socks and bandanna), she was greeted by Serge and Piette, the latter of whom had several coils of rope with him.

Piette told her, "If you'll come with me? -We should get started as soon as possible."

Leena nodded and gulped. Suddenly she had butterflies in her stomach. Despite what she'd thought in the bathroom, she was still quite nervous. What exactly was she getting herself into? Reminding herself that she wanted this (sort of), she followed Piette into the bedroom.

Piette had her stand in front of her bed, her arms behind her back. Piette stepped behind her, took left arm in his hands, and tied a loop of rope around her wrist. He pulled it rather tight (but not so much that it would be uncomfortable), then took her right arm and placed it behind her left, her wrists crossed. A quick loop around her right wrist, then a figure-eight around both wrists, tightened and tied off out of reach of her fingers, left her hands tied together.

Her breath caught in her throat. Her hands had been tied together before, during the pie-eating contest, but then it had been a simple loop around both wrists, just enough to make sure she wouldn't use her hands in the contest. This time, however, the binding was designed to last - it wouldn't be coming off on its own, nor did she have much chance of freeing herself without the use of a sharp object. She felt quite helpless, but safe enough that that wasn't a particularly bad thing...

...And he had only just begun...

He wrapped the rope around her wrists several more times, using a combination of various kinds of loops, before tying it all off again between her arms (and out of her reach). He then pulled back the sheets and had her sit down on the bed.

She watched in fascination as he wrapped rope around her ankles, first individually then together, and pulled it tight. She nibbled on her lower lip, trying to stay still so as not to make things difficult. It was hard though - she wanted to test out her new bonds.

She settled for wriggling her arms, testing the rope holding her wrists. It was a strange feeling: she could move her arms, but not separately (which also meant they were stuck behind her). Piette had done an incredible job - the ropes weren't going anywhere, but they didn't feel all that uncomfortable - more "snug" than anything else. In fact, it felt strangely comforting, like being hugged. (Although she was sure she'd feel quite different about it if she hadn't accepted it willingly, or she didn't have Serge and her friends to keep an eye on her.) If it weren't for not being able to do anything, she could get used to this!

Suddenly, Piette was telling her to lie down on her stomach. She hadn't even noticed him finishing up tying her ankles together.

Obediently, she lied down and rolled over. As she did, she experienced the same sensations from her legs she just had from her arm, as they were forced to move as one.

Piette took her feet and bent her legs back until her heels were nearly touching her behind. (To her minor embarrassment, her nightgown slid up her legs in the process, baring her calves. Luckily the only people around to see it were Serge and Piette, and Piette seemed to be all business.) He then grabbed her wrists, and pulled them toward her ankles. (This was also a little embarrassing, as it forced her to arch her back, thus emphasizing her bust. This time, though, only Serge could see it, so she just gave him a shy smile.)

Leena could feel her muscles pulled uncomfortably tight as her hands and feet finally came into contact, and she now understood the real reason this was only a six-hour dare. (Six hours?! Could her muscles hold out that long?!) She was thankful that Piette didn't attempt to make her wrists and ankles touch, but strung some rope between them, tying them together as they were. After checking to make sure everything was as tight as it would go without cutting off her circulation or pulling a muscle, Piette finished it all with one last knot (as always, out her reach). He stepped back, leaving Leena's feet and hands suspended above her back.

"Well, there you go. I'll come around once an hour to untie you for a short break, to reduce the chance of circulation problems. In the mean time, if you get too uncomfortable, just tell a fellow player, or shout out that you want to be untied. We'll free you immediately - however unless there was a problem with the way I tied you, you'll need to change back into your day clothes and leave the Funhouse."

"I have no intention of giving up now," Leena replied defiantly, as she wriggled around in a futile attempt to get into a more comfortable position.

Piette shrugged, and left the room.

Serge sat down on the bed next to her. "How're you doing?" he asked in concern.

"I... I'm okay," she said, partially distracted by the strange contrast of his freedom and her bondage. She could easily imagine him as her hero, rescuing her from her evil kidnappers - or, conversely, as a loving kidnapper himself. Either way, she was at his mercy, and it was difficult not to let that thought influence her reactions.

After a moment, she asked him, "Um... do you think you could... turn me onto my side? I think that might be a little more comfortable, but I can't seem to manage it myself..." She found herself blushing after she blurted this out. It felt so strange to be referring to herself almost like an object!

As Serge rolled her onto her side, facing him, she reflected that Marle must have felt even more helpless when she'd been in the body-cast; and Leena's respect for the girl rose considerably to know she'd stuck through it.

"Thanks, that's a lot better."

For a minute or two, Serge sat there and Leena lay there, quietly, looking at each other; not having or needing anything to say.

After a bit, a thought occurred to Leena, "I was thinking, I'm supposed to spend the day **in** bed, not just on it... Maybe you could move me so my head's on the pillow, and pull the covers up?"

"Er, okay," Serge said, finding it a bit odd himself to have to move Leena around for her.

After he'd moved her into position and tucked her in, he asked, "That good?"

"Yeah, thanks," she said in a soft, warm voice. Her face was flushed, her expression glowing.

Serge blinked. "Are you all right?" he asked, confused by her reaction.

Now it was Leena's turn to blink a few times. "What? ...I - I'm fine, really." She paused a moment, and smiled. "Just enjoying having you waiting on me, that's all."

Serge scratched the back of his head and smiled back. "Oh, is that it?" He sat down on the bed next to her again. "Well, don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from."

...Just then, Robo came in, carrying his "Clone". It was quite a sight, too - Robo had chosen the same purple latex Lucca had used, so the robot was now shiny bright purple. Even the casts on its' lower legs were purple.

"Greetings, Serge, Leena," he said as he walked over to the far end of the room, where he put it down.

Serge and Leena just stared, not even bothering to respond as he bowed to them and walked back out.

o-o-o

After an hour, Piette showed up to give her her first break. Untying her was no simple task, given the number, complexity, and tightness of the knots he'd used, but he accomplished it with remarkable speed and efficiency.

Sitting up in bed, Leena stretched her arm and legs. "What a relief! It feels good to be able to move again!" she commented. She then began to rub her wrists, ankles, and shoulders. "I didn't expect to be so sore, though - especially not so soon."

"That's why you're given breaks," Piette said.

Leena spent the next few minutes continuing to stretch her limbs, and rub at her sore muscles and skin. However, far too soon for her tastes Piette told her he had to tie her up again if she wished to continue her dare.

Once more, Leena found she enjoyed the process of having her hands and feet tied. The final bit, where the rope around her ankles was connected to the rope around her wrists was a lot less fun, as it meant the her sore muscles were once more put under pressure - though at least he had tied her wrists and ankles in slightly different positions, so the pressure was focused in somewhat different places and directions than before.

o-o-o

Serge stayed by Leena's side the rest of the day, joined after a while by Marle, Lucca, and (surprisingly) Crono. Meanwhile, Ayla, Korcha, and Frog got in some sparring. As for Kid and Robo, they talked philosophy for a while, then joined up with the fighters in the Dungeon, so Robo could assist their sparring, and so Kid could flirt with Korcha.

As promised, Piette came by every hour to give Leena a break. Although these breaks helped, they were not enough to entirely undo the effects of an hour of being hogtied, and despite Piette's attempts to tie her slightly differently each time, as the afternoon continued on she found her wrists, ankles, and various muscles in her arms, legs, shoulders and back growing more and more sore.

o-o-o

At dinner time, the groups separated, the Gray Team returning to the Gray Room to eat, the Red Team (except for Leena), heading to the cafeteria.

Rather than eat there, Serge took both his food and Leena's, and brought it back to the Red Room. Needless to say, Leena enjoyed being hand-fed supper in bed.

o-o-o

Around 7:30, Piette showed up to help untie Leena.

Leena winced in pain as she stretched. "I'm really glad that's the end of the dare. I don't think I could have handled much more of that."

As Leena slowly made her way to the edge of the bed, Serge reminded her, "You're supposed to stay in bed."

"I'm allowed bathroom breaks. And assuming my legs will hold me, I really need to use the bathroom."

Piette, who had been just about to leave, reminded her, "Just keep in mind, you have to get back in bed as soon as you're done."

"I know."

She got to her feet unsteadily, and Serge helped her walk to the bathroom.

When she got back in bed afterwards, she found herself quite restless. Before she hadn't had any choice but to lie there, but now she could move around, and felt like she should be able to get up. She sighed. "This is going to be a long dare."

o-o-o

Leena's restlessness continued on until even after everyone else had gone to bed. Finally, around 11:30, she was finally able to fall asleep.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Day Thirteen**

For everyone besides Leena and Serge, the morning of day thirteen was just another morning, like all the rest. (Although Marle was still getting used to eating with only one hand, and Lucca's latex mask and clay-covered-hair still drew the occasional double-takes.)

Serge served Leena breakfast in bed, although unlike dinner, she was able to feed herself. He then kept her company while the other girls were busy; although he did go do some sparring with the other guys while the girls were keeping her company.

Soon enough, lunchtime came around, and once again, Serge brought Leena her food.

Then, at 1:30, Vicks and Wedge came around to announce that Leena had completed her dare, so it was now time for the Round Four Team Challenge.

Leena was quite glad to be able to finally get up. She changed into her day clothes (except for wearing Serge's socks, bandanna, and vest), and washed up. Then everybody gathered in the Dare Room.

Bekkler greeted them, and led them to the Challenge Room.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o **

**The Funhouse: Round Four**

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

This time, the pool was empty, and a spotlight shone on a different part of the room, where there were two podiums. Nearby were four benches.

"This challenge will be a test of intelligence and knowledge. The two benches nearest the podiums are where you shall sit at the start of the challenge. Both teams will be asked a series of questions, which you shall have a minute to discuss. Then you will be told to send someone up to the team podium to announce the team's answer. If the player answers correctly, he or she may return to his or her seat. However, it the person gets it wrong, they're out of the challenge, and must go sit on one of the other benches, where they can't advise the team. The last team with active players wins.

"Oh... And you're probably wondering about the challenge's penalties and rewards. The reward for winning (in addition to the chance to win team points, of course) is access to the Funhouse library! It's small, but it's filled with books of every type imaginable, and if it doesn't have a book you're looking for, all you have to do is ask, and we'll get it for you. ...

"...As for the penalty..." A crooked smile crossed Bekkler's face. "Each person who answers incorrectly will have some messy substance poured on them - as you can probably guess, only the winning team will be allowed to wash up afterwards."

A loud groan rose from the group - they'd been through this routine too many times already.

"So, to start with, does anyone want to sit this one out?"

Leena raised her hand.

"All right, you can go sit on the red bench away from the podium, or you may go do as you like."

"I suppose I'll stick around for now."

"Very well. Anyone else?"

Marle turned to her companions. "Does anyone mind if I sit this one out, too? It's not like I can help much in this."

Kid scowled and shook her head. "No - you heard what he was saying: ya don't need to know the answer, you just need to present it. We need all the bodies we can get."

Frog added, "Surely thou were given a royal education...?"

"Er... Well, yes..."

Korcha's eyes widened. "And ya were gonna keep us from usin' that knowledge?!"

"Uh... I wasn't exactly the best of students... but I suppose I can play if you really want me to..."

"I zink zey do," Harle observed.

...And so, the two teams headed over to their benches.

Bekkler announced, "And, let the challenge begin! ...For your first question, 'Who is the ruler of El Nido?' ...You have one minute to decide, starting now."

A timer lit up on the wall behind them, and started ticking down. Of course, for this question it was unnecessary, as neither side had any question as to the answer. The Red Team sent up Serge, and the Gray, Korcha. Bekkler had them write down their answers before either spoke (so as to prevent the second speaker from copying the first), then asked for their answers. Both answered, "General Viper", and they were allowed to return to the benches.

The next question required a little bit more thought, but not much: "What is the largest nation in the world?" Serge headed to the podium again, and just for something different, Gray team sent up Harle. Both answered "Porre", and both were allowed to return to the benches.

The third question finally required a bit of thinking: "Name the racers at Guardia's Millennial Fair."

Korcha whispered fiercely to his teammates, "How cha hell're we supposed'cha know that?!"

Marle smiled. "No sweat! I went to it! ...Now if I can only remember..."

Frog added, "I believe there was a Reptite there? And I distinctly recall a cat."

"Right! The cat was 'Catalack' - I remember that. And the Reptite was 'the Green...' something-or-other..."

Meanwhile, Crono, Lucca, Robo, and even Ayla were wracking their brains trying to remember names of the runners. "...The Green Ambler..." "...G.I. Jogger..." "Ayla remember cat! And Reptite!" "Yeah, we already mentioned the Reptite. What was the cat's name?" "Wasn't there a guy in armor...?"

Before either side was fully satisfied with their answers, the buzzer rang.

"All right, please send up your representatives."

"Oh, great! Who do we send up? We might be wrong!" Lucca said worriedly. After a brief discussion, it was decided Crono was the most expendable in this challenge, as he wasn't exactly a scholar, and Lucca, Robo, and Ayla had all shared in many of his adventures. As for the Gray team, they sent up Harle again, as due to her role as an amnesiac, she was of no help whatsoever to the team.

Crono and Harle had a moment to write down their answers, then Bekkler asked Harle to reveal her team's answers.

"We zay zat zee runners were 'Catalack', ze 'Green Runner', and ze 'G.I. Jogger'."

"And you, Crono?"

Crono just held up his card, upon which he'd written, "Steel Runner, G.I. Jogger, Green Ambler, Catalak".

"And... Red Team is correct!" With that, a trapdoor opened in the ceiling, and thick gray mud poured down over Harle.

Harle looked down at her mud-covered form in disgust. "Akk! What iz zis muck?!"

"What you'll be wearing until the end of the challenge, at the least. That's all I can tell you. Now, if you'll go to the empty bench, and if Crono will return to the Red Team bench, we can continue."

As Harle headed to the last bench, Lucca called out, "Don't worry - it's probably just clay mud, like what they put in my hair."

"Zat does not make it any better, mademoiselle Lucca - I am not in ze habit of zaking ze mud bath, no?"

Marle added, "I'm sorry, Harle. I tried to remember..."

Bekkler cleared his throat, and pulled the card with the next question out of thin air. "Question four is: 'What is seven-hundred and thirty-two divided by two-hundred and twenty-three?"

Kid looked at Marle. "Guess this is where your royal education comes in handy."

"Me?! I can't do that sort of problem! And certainly not in my head!"

Kid scowled. "I could - when I was Schala. But that was a lifetime ago..." She bit her lip as she tried to work it out.

Over on the Red team, Robo easily worked it out, and Lucca confirmed his answer a few moments later. Long before the buzzer rang, they had sent up Robo to deliver his answer (he would be able to remember it perfectly, unlike the others).

When the buzzer rang, the Gray team argued over who should deliver their answer (which they already knew was probably wrong). Finally, Frog volunteered. "Mine knowledge does not seem essential to this cause, and as a frog, slime and muck hold little fear for me."

As soon as Frog had made it to the podium and written the team's answer, Bekkler asked Robo for his answer.

"By my calculations, seven-hundred and thirty-two divided by two-hundred and twenty-three is three point two-eight-two-five-one-one-two-one-zero-"

"Whoa, whoa! That's good enough! (Guess we should have specified what place to round it off to...)" He turned to Frog. "And your team's answer?"

Frog croaked. "Mine team decided upon the answer 'three and a half', with an unspecified remainder."

Bekkler cracked his knuckles. "Well, once again, Red Team is correct! ...And Gray team is not..."

The trap-door above the Gray Team podium opened again, and a dark brown liquid poured down over Frog.

Leena felt sick at the sight; but Frog just sniffed, then darted out his tongue to taste the liquid. "Mmm... chocolate. Certainly there are worse things I could have been immersed in!" He cheerfully headed over to join Harle on the second Gray Team bench.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Gray Team was not happy with the way things were going.

Korcha fumed, "What are we? A team of idiots?"

"No," Marle said apologetically, "but they've got two geniuses on their team!"

Kid sighed. "Relax ya two. It's just a game. ...Even if it does look like we're gonna spend another day covered in gunk..."

Bekkler cleared his throat to get their attention. "Are you all ready for question number five? Here goes: 'Who is the most beloved musician in the world?'"

This one both teams were able to answer correctly, thanks to Serge on the Red Team and Korcha and Kid on the Gray. Serge and Korcha headed up to present the answer (though Korcha regretted it, as he had to walk through the chocolate and mud that had collected by the podium). Both answered "Niki", and both were allowed to return to their team benches.

"Now for question six! 'What is the most powerful of all armor?'"

This question gave Marle the opportunity to prove herself to her teammates, as she knew this one from experience.

Both teams answered "the Prism Dress," which turned out to be the correct answer.

Bekkler's next question was, "What are the requirements to cast a summons spell?"

Now the Red team had to rely on Serge, as none of the others on the team had a clue about summoning spells.

Wanting to preserve their diversity of knowledge, they had Serge tell Crono what to say, and sent Crono up. The Gray team, meanwhile, decided not to risk Korcha not remembering everything, so they sent up Kid.

Both Crono and Kid mentioned all the essentials: having the element, having enough Magic Points, and having the magic field completely the color of the summon element. Their answerers correct, they returned to their benches.

Question eight was, "According to the "Conservation of Time" theorem, what happens when more than three people attempt to travel through time together?"

The moment she heard this, Marle blurted out to her teammates, "You end up at the End of Time, obviously!"

Not having been aware of this fact, Korcha stared at her.

Both teams got the question right again, so Bekkler moved on to question nine: "Which types of magic cancel each other out?"

This was a job for Serge and Kid, the only of the players experienced in these matters. As with the previous two questions, both teams got it right: "black and white, red and blue, yellow and green."

Question ten was, "How many continents does the world posses?"

There was some debate on both sides as to whether Sun Keep Island counted as a continent or an island, but eventually they both decided it was an island, and settled on the correct answer, four.

Question eleven was, "What is the name of the rebel group that opposes Porre?"

This was a no-brainer for Kid, but Serge remembered it too after wracking his brain. "Radical Dreamers" allowed both teams to move on to yet another question - "Who is the most beloved dancer in El Nido?"

Serge and Korcha provided their teams with the correct answer ("Miki"), and Bekkler moved on to question thirteen: "What music and dance craze was introduced at the Guardia Millennial Fair?"

Kid looked at Marle.

"I... think I know what he's talking about... I saw it with Crono... it was this primitive stuff, right out of Ayla's time... but I don't have a clue what it was called!"

Meanwhile, the Red team was batting a thousand, too. Crono and Lucca couldn't remember, either, and Robo hadn't visited that particular attraction. Ayla did mention that she had noticed it was almost the same as a song and dance from her time, but Lucca had a bad feeling the names were different...

Crono and Korcha (still considered the most expendable of the remaining players in this challenge) were sent up. Korcha gave the answer "Caveman Dance" (the best Marle could come up with), and Crono held up his card, upon which he'd written the name the tune had had in Ayla's time, "Burn! Bobonga!"

Bekkler told them, "I'm sorry, but you're both wrong. The answer we were looking for was 'Jurassic Rhythm'."

Trapdoors opened over both Crono and Korcha. Red mud poured over Crono, while something thick and white dropped on Korcha.

"What is that?" Marle wanted to know.

Korcha shrugged as he walked by on his way to the Gray Team's looser-bench. "Dunno. All I know is it's sweet and sticky..."

"Huh. I'll have to taste it later."

Kid held her hand to her forehead and shook her head.

By now, it was obvious the competition was rather lopsided: Red Team still had Lucca, Robo, Ayla, and Serge, while Gray Team was down to just Marle and Kid. However, the two of them were not prepared to give up just yet. (Especially as outright quitting the challenge wasn't allowed now that it had started - they would have had to "throw" it, and would have still gotten messy.)

Bekkler pulled the next question out of the air and read it. "What is the most powerful of all blades?"

This caused a bit of an argument in the Red Team, as Serge claimed to have once had in his possession a bladed weapon more powerful than the legendary Masamune, while the others felt the most powerful blade had to be either the Masamune or the Rainbow.

Finally, Serge headed up to the podium to present his answer, and prove himself right. Marle joined him there, tired of sending other people up with answers she wasn't sure of. (While she was there, she sampled some of the white stuff that had poured on Korcha, and identified it as marshmallow fluff.)

When Bekkler told them to reveal their answers, Serge held up his card, on which he had written "Spectra Swallow". As for Marle, she answered, "the Rainbow."

"Serge is correct - the most powerful blade in the world is the Spectra Swallow!"

Marle 's eyes widened, she gulped, and then she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, tensing against what she knew was coming. Seconds later, she was soaked by a deluge of gray slime. As she opened her eyes and looked down at the sticky glop slowly dripping off of her, she looked rather nauseated.

Slowly, she slithered over to the rest of her messy teammates.

Bekkler announced, "Well, things aren't looking good for the Gray team, are they? (Neither is the team itself, for that matter!) Kid, you might as well come on up here, as it's all up to you to win your teammates the right to get cleaned up!"

Kid nodded grimly and walked up to the mud, slime, and food splattered Gray Team podium.

"...Question Fifteen! What is the most powerful of all helmets?"

After some deliberation on the Red Team side, Ayla came up to give the answer, "Prism Helm!" Kid responded the same way.

"You are both..." Bekkler paused dramatically. "-Wrong! The most powerful helmet is Ozzie Pants!"

Ayla just shrugged, but Kid looked shocked (and a little dismayed). The trapdoors opened over the two girls, and liquid poured out onto them. The liquid that hit Ayla was a clear amber color, while Kid's was just plain clear.

When the liquid stopped pouring, Ayla licked her hand, and announced, "Honey! Ayla like!" She continued licking herself, like a cat.

Discovering the liquid she'd been immersed in to be quite slippery, Kid asked, "What is this, some sort of oil?"

Bekkler spread his hands. "Can't tell you. That's part of the game - not knowing."

Kid sighed. "Whatever. So we can't wash up until your guys come around tomorrow, right?"

"That's right. To make it official, 'Red Team has won the challenge!'"

Kid shook her head, and started striding to the door. She called back to her teammates, who were getting up, "I don't know 'bout the rest of you blokes, but I'm goin' back to the Gray Room." Unfortunately, her boots were slippery, too, and moments later, she slipped and landed on the floor.

"I'm fine," she groaned as she tried to get up. However, her slippery gloves and boots made that quite a challenge. Finally, she gave up on it and pulled them off. Although some of the "oil" had even made it into her gloves and boots, her hands and feet were dry enough that she was able to make it to her feet. Grabbing her boots and gloves, she continued to the door, grumbling all the way.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

The players have been messy before, but rarely **this** messy. Shall it present any new challenges? ...Shall there be any developments on the romance front? ...And what of the Bonus Dares?...! ...Don't miss the next episode of "Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse"!

(Check your FanFiction dot net Author Alerts for local times...)

o-o-o-o

_Revision note (August 28 2012):_ When I initially came up with the dares for this game, I made no effort to research the tasks I was going to ask the characters to perform. Even then I knew a hogtie was an extreme form of bondage, hence my making it last only six hours instead of twelve or indefinitely. However, even six hours is an unsafe length of time to be tied in such an unnatural position - hence the addition of regular breaks in this revised version of the chapter.


	16. Episode Fourteen, at last!

Author's Notes:  
-To "a Person": Yeah, I'd love to have more nudity in this, too. Unfortunately for such wishes, I pick the dares at random.  
-To GeminiST: I'll put in the pairings I feel like putting in, but thank you for your input.  
-And, once again, "someone", thanks for the kick in the tail. I knew it had been a while, but I didn't realize it had been quite that long!

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

**Episode Fourteen**

**Round 4, Part 1  
**

Previously: Leena and Robo both made it though the Eviction Challenge. Per their dares, Robo painted his copy in purple latex, while Leena spent the afternoon in a hogtie, and the night and following morning in bed. Then, the teams competed in a Trivia contest, where the losers were drenched in messy stuff. The Gray team lost, and must spend the next 24 hours or so covered in gunk...

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

**Character Scoreboard**

**Red Team** (Team points: 12):  
Team Prizes: Cafeteria, Library

_***Crono:  
**_Clothing: Shirt & bracelets; pants; socks; boots; underwear; vest; bandanna; scarf  
Conditions: None  
Points: 14

_***Lucca**__:  
_Clothing: Shirt; short leotard; socks; boots; underwear; bra; tunic & scarf; helmet;  
Conditions: latex on face (indefinitely), clay mud in hair (indefinitely)  
Points: 14

_***Robo**__:  
_(Serial Dare X: "Metamorphosis" into action figure.)  
Clothing: Armor; helmet; Heavy leather tassels; 7 vouchers.  
Conditions: Head, right foot plastic,  
Points: 72

**(Robo Doll)**:  
Clothing: Armor; helmet; leather tassels  
Conditions: Head, right foot, right arm plastic; covered in purple latex; left & right purple short leg casts; leather tassels in "shirt" position

_***Ayla**__:  
_Clothing: cuffs; boots; bra; loincloth; tail scarf; 3 vouchers.  
Conditions: None  
Points: 18

_***Serge**__:  
_Clothing: shirt; shorts; (Leena's socks); boots; underwear; (Leena's shawl); (Leena's headband); gloves;  
Conditions: None  
Points: 5

_***Leena**__:  
_Clothing: Dress; Serge's socks; sandals (l, r); panties; bra; Serge's vest; Serge's bandanna; bracelets;  
Condition: None  
Points: 0

.

**Gray Team** (team points: 0):  
Team Prizes: Yard, Hot Tub

_***Frog**__:  
_Clothing: Armor; pants; boots; cape; gloves; Hero's medal; 2 vouchers;  
Conditions: Covered in chocolate (24 hrs)  
Points: 16

_***Marle**__:  
_Clothing: snake-woman costume with bikini top  
Condition: right arm turned to stone, covered in gray slime (24 hrs).  
Points: 22

_***Korcha**__:  
_Clothing: foot wrappings; loincloth; vest; pony tail wrapping; gloves; 3 vouchers;  
Conditions: Covered in marshmallow fluff (24 hrs)  
Points: 4

_***Kid  
**_Clothing: tight shirt; skirt; foot wrappings; boots; panties; vest; pendant & ribbons; gloves;  
Conditions: Covered in unidentified clear "oil". (24 hrs)  
Points: 0

_***Harle**__:  
_(Serial Dare VI: "Identity Crisis")  
Clothing: shirt; harem pants; fluffy socks; jester's shoes; panties; bra; Jester hat (has long neck tassels, and puffy earrings); gloves;  
Conditions: act as if had amnesia (until next bonus); covered in clay mud (24 hrs)  
Points: 66

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

**Day Thirteen Continued**

Kid tossed her gloves and boots in the corner of the bedroom. No use wearing them until she could wash them...

She then walked back into the main Gray Room and sat down at the table with a sigh. Another challenge lost... another day covered in muck... Some days, she wondered why she had thought this game would be so fun.

Unthinkingly, she put her left elbow on the table and went to rest her chin on her palm. The unfortunate effect of this was that she got slime on her hand before her chin slid out of it, and she hit her chin on the table. She swore as she sat back up and rubbed her chin (making sure to use her already messy left hand).

As slippery as it was, the slime was now a little sticky as well, and Kid started thinking about what it might be. Judging by the smell (which she didn't particularly like), it wasn't any type of oil she was familiar with. Some new type of slime the Funhouse staff or creators had cooked up? But then why had it started out so thin? It had poured over her like water, soaking through her shirt, but leaving only a thin layer, barely a trace, behind... (And even that had been so slippery as to make walking impossible!)

Deep in thought, she once more absently tried to rest her chin in her hand- with similar results to the last time.

...When the rest of the Gray team arrived, they found her in no better a mood than when she'd left the Challenge room...

Korcha couldn't help but stare at Kid. The oil had made her shirt cling to her bust even more than normal, and it even allowed some color through. All of this not only enhanced the viewing experience, but it revealed without a shadow of a doubt that Kid wasn't wearing a bra...

"What're ya starin' at?!" Kid demanded.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out. If she hadn't caught the direction of his gaze, the blood flowing from his nose or the bulge in his loincloth would have given the game away. The flush now entering her face revealed that all this had registered to her... She tried to compensate for her embarrassment by scowling angrily. However, as he was now used to her posing, this didn't affect Korcha as much as she might have liked. (It did serve to keep Harle and Marle from bugging her, though, so it wasn't total wasted effort.)

In answer to her question, Korcha replied, "I like cha way ya' look- you got a problem with that?"

Kid opened her mouth, and then closed it again, not sure what to say to that. Finally, she crossed her arms below her breasts, and said, "Fine. You like what you see? Then get a good look- you won't be seeing it again."

"Sounds good cha me," Korcha said reasonably, and sat down near her.

Kid turned her face away so he couldn't see how furiously she was blushing, and so she could try to pretend he wasn't looking at her that way. This wasn't exactly how she had expected things to go! ...She wished she'd thought of a better response to him... And she also wished she hadn't crossed her arms like that- it only emphasized her breasts even more. Although she loved to show off her body, there were limits she didn't cross - and she'd just accidentally crossed one. Now she had to figure out how to recover a little bit of modesty without admitting she felt vulnerable...

...Meanwhile, Marle had slithered into the bathroom, and was throwing up in the toilet (the look and smell of the slime on her really bothered her). In the bedroom, Frog was polishing his sword, and Harle was playing a game of solitaire with her battle-cards.

o-o-o

Wanting to make things a little easier on Kid, Korcha decided to start up a conversation. "So... "

Kid chanced looking in his direction, and was pleased to see that he had the decency to look her in the face. (Of course, looking at **him** threatened to make her burst out laughing - it was hard to take too seriously a guy covered in fluff.)

Korcha continued, managing to glance down only occasionally, "Bekkler said we can take off clothes if we want to, but not wash them; and if we put new clothes on, we have cha go to the supply room to get those clothes messy, too. That includes anything we'd wear cha bed. Also, we can wash our hands before meals, but if we do, we have cha go get our hands messy again afterward."

"That figures," Kid said, uncrossing her arms. The "oil" on her was getting quite sticky now, and this action required a little effort- and caused her breasts to bounce a bit when her arms did came free. She was too concerned with how sticky the slime had gotten to notice how intently Korcha was staring at her.

"Almost doesn't seem worth changing clothes in that case," she commented, leaning her left arm on the table again and tapping her fingers. The slime on her fingers was now tacky enough that it slowed down her tapping, and she frowned at this. This definitely wasn't oil she was wearing...

"That's what I was thinkin'," Korcha agreed, without taking his eyes off her breasts. He wondered if her nipples being so pronounced said anything about how she was feeling...

Kid stopped tapping her fingers, and smiled in amusement. She was feeling less vulnerable now- in a way, this situation gave her a good deal of power over her male companions. Still, Korcha had looked long enough. She went to close her vest...

-But her left arm wouldn't leave the table!

In fact, it took a bit of effort even to pull her fingertips free, and they'd only been touching the table for a few moments. Biting her lower lip, she put some muscle into it. With a soft ripping noise, her arm came free. Kid swore in pain- that had hurt!

Korcha stood up and moved to her, concerned. "Are you all right?" Where her arm had been touching the table, her arm was a very irritated-looking red.

"I'm fine," Kid said sharply, still biting her lip. She tried lightly massaging her arm, but was still sticky enough that doing it "lightly" proved impossible; and her rubbing only made it hurt worse. As she pulled her right hand away from it (wincing in pain at that action, too), she complained, "Damn stuff! I liked it better when it was slippery." Absently, she worked her jaw, trying to get her lip loose from her teeth.

Korcha now took the time to look at the rest of Kid's body. It was still shiny from the slime, but that shine was much duller now than when it had first poured on her. She didn't look wet anymore- more like she was covered in a thin layer of very transparent wax. However, her hair was still weighed down and plastered to her head as if it were wet; and as he well knew, her shirt was still clinging to her skin, and allowing the color of her skin through as it did when wet. Although, even her slime-soaked shirt wasn't as shiny or transparent as it had been at first...

Remembering that she had been about to close her vest, she took the ends of it and pulled them together. Her breasts moved along with them. Looking down, she realized that where her shirt and vest touched, the two garments were stuck together. She started to tug harder, then decided against giving Korcha that kind of show. (Of course, she still gave him a little bit of a show, as she now had to pull her breasts back apart!)

Trying to turn away from him so as to have a little privacy while trying to pull her vest loose, she discovered that her skirt was quite stuck to the chair. Pulling her hands away from her vest (and giving Korcha another show in the process), she tried to push herself off the chair. Nothing.

Korcha blinked. "Are you... stuck?"

Kid looked up at him with frightened eyes, unthinkingly pulling a little bit more of her lip into her mouth as she made an uncharacteristic pout. She nodded, her expression remaining the same. She pulled her hands free of the chair, and held them out. Out of the corner of her mouth, she asked quietly, "A little help?"

Korcha grasped her wrists, and began to pull. She did her part by pushing with her legs. The chair rocked, and the upper edge of her skirt bit into her, as her body tried to go where her skirt refused to let her. Trying to quell the fear in her heart by sounding tough, she commented, "Damn shtuff's ash bad ash glue!"

Of course, as her lip was still between her teeth, it didn't sound quite as tough as she was hoping for. She began trying harder to free her lip from her teeth.

Korcha raised an eyebrow. "Did cha consider that that might be what it is?"

Kid's eyes widened even more, and she stopped struggling.

She looked so frightened that Korcha couldn't help but try to console her. "Don't cha worry - I'm sure they have somethin' cha get cha loose and clean cha off..."

"Yeah, but I can't uesh it until tomorrow, unlesh I want to forfeit the game," she said around her lip, which was still stuck.

Thinking about Kid's predicament, Korcha suddenly realized he needed to be careful not to get caught up in it. He let go of Kid's wrists, but his hands wouldn't leave them so easily. Pulling hard, he managed to get his hands loose- though not without some pain for both of them.

"You aren't jusht going to leave me here, shtuck like thish, are you?!" Kid demanded, fear and anger merging.

"No, of course not! But it won't do any good for both of us cha be stuck, will it?"

Kid looked away, and curled up as much as she could without touching herself.

o-o-o

Lucca had insisted Crono wait until the others were done washing up to wash himself off. When the bathroom was finally clear, he found out why, as she pulled him into the bathroom.

"Come on, you big lug, time to get cleaned up!"

"Uh... you do realize this is mud on me- it isn't edible."

Lucca rolled her eyes. "Duh! But for a genius like me, cleaning up any mess can be fun!" As she closed the door behind them, she added in a low voice, and with a sly smile, "Besides, didn't I ever tell you? I think you look sexy when you're dirty!"

o-o-o

"It looks like it's just your skirt stuck to the chair. Maybe you could take it off?" Korcha suggested thoughtfully.

Kid glowered.

Just then, Marle slithered over. "I'm going to go out to the yard. Maybe some sun and fresh air will help me. You want to come?"

Too embarrassed by her situation to mention it, Kid just said nonchalantly, "No, not right now. Maybe later."

"Okay, suit yourself." She went over to the bedroom and informed Frog and Harle of her plans. Harle decided to join her.

Once the two had left, Kid turned back to Korcha. "Look, why don't you try pulling me loosh again? It worked wish my armsh and your handsh..."

"Yeah, but you've been sitting there a while now..." Quickly, he added, "Still, it's worth a try." Korcha grabbed her wrists again, and pulled with all of his might. This time, she moved- all of their pulling and pushing forced her into a standing position... except, it wasn't really "standing", since the chair was still stuck to her butt, and its back kept her bent at the waist.

Kid scowled, while Korcha burst out laughing.

"Shtop laughing, and grab the chair. Maybe wish boash of ush pulling we can get me free."

Korcha pulled his hands off her wrists, then walked around her to grab the chair. He didn't stop laughing, though.

Korcha grasped the chair firmly, and said, "All right. Whenever cha ready."

Kid set her legs wide, and began to try to walk forward. Meanwhile, Korcha pulled back on the chair with all his might.

The two strained for a minute or so, then there was a loud rip, and Kid serged forward. Korcha fell backward, the chair landing with its legs around his shoulders and head.

"Yeah! I told'sha we could do it!" Kid cheered, as Korcha moved the chair aside and got up.

"Actually, cha would'a been better off takin' cha skirt off, after all," Korcha said, glancing between Kid's waist and the chair a few times.

Kid glanced at the chair, and her eyes widened. Her skirt was still stuck to it- the clasp that held the skirt together at the side had ripped off.

Automatically, she looked down at herself. Not only was her shirt literally glued to her breasts (and rendered partially transparent by the glue, to boot), but now the only things she was wearing below her waist was her panties and the tape she wore instead of stockings. She began to blush, feeling even more vulnerable and exposed than earlier.

Korcha was also examining Kid's lower half; in his case, appreciatively. Her panties were red, without any frills (literally or figuratively). Their cut was on the conservative side- she'd bared more skin when wearing her bikini. Still, he couldn't help but enjoy looking at Kid's panties while she was wearing them.

Noticing where Korcha's eyes were focused, Kid grumbled quietly, "Bloody one-track mind." Despite her annoyance at him, she still found herself smiling slightly. He might be a pervert, but she was beginning to see he was an innocent one, for the most part - and the attention was flattring. ...Also, it was rather hard to get angry at a young man covered in fluff!

Smiling wryly (but still blushing), she said, "Well, guesh you're gonna be shpending a lot of time looking at me today- I don't want to get even more of my close covered in glue, sho I guesh I'm shtuck like thish for now..."

Korcha looked up at her, his eyes widening, even as the bulge in his loincloth grew and a fresh drop of blood trickled out of his nose. Then, registering her tone and expression, he did his best to hide his excitement and give her a sympathetic look.

o-o-o

Lucca sat on the edge of the tub, in only her leotard. Mud coated much of her front side, from where she'd rubbed up against Crono. In the tub, Crono laid back happily, wearing only his boxers, as warm water poured into the tub, slowly filling it. Since he had been wearing his clothes when the mud was poured on him, only his head and arms were actually dirty. He could have easily washed them off in the sink - but Lucca had pointed out it would be more fun to do it in the bath. Especially as Lucca was going to be the one doing the washing.

Lucca began massaging him with her feet- one over his chest and abdomen, the other at his crotch. "See, didn't I tell you this would be fun?"

Crono smiled and nodded.

o-o-o

Unable to wash up (or take a swim), Marle and Harle were sunbathing by the pool, chatting. Not only did it help get their minds off how messy they were, but it had the added bonus of speeding up the drying of the slime and mud - making it far less gross, even if it was no less dirty.

After a little while, Kid and Korcha joined them. Her choice to wear her vest but not her skirt was odd, but as there are no rules on what you can or can't wear when sunbathing, Marle and Harle didn't really think about it. Far stranger was the fact that Korcha had chosen to hang out with them.

"Perhaps you are wishing to watch us bask in zee sun?" Harle guessed. "I am afraid we are so messy, you shall not see much..."

"Except of me," Kid said, sitting down carefully so only her feet, hands, and rear touched the ground. Even then, she had to spend a bit of time pulling strands of grass off her hands once she was sitting, and there was nothing she could do to get the dirt off them.

The girls and Korcha talked for a while, comparing their lives outside the Funhouse (Harle claimed not to remember it), and talking a bit about life in the Funhouse, as well. They speculated about what new challenges and dares might await them, and the girls gossiped a bit about potential romantic parings. Marle and Harle demanded Kid and Korcha fess up to the state of their relationship (both denied hotly that there was one). Harle talked about how she found Crono and Serge cute, but didn't want to get into a relationship while she "had amnesia". As for Kid, she asked how Marle was doing competing for Crono's affections against Lucca.

"Not that great - or I wouldn't be out here. But I just can't bring myself to hog him to myself - Lucca is my friend, after all. It's kinda funny, isn't it?"

Kid disagreed. "You can't spend your every waking moment with the bloke. A little time to yourself is good fer ya! 'Sides, I'm sure Lucca'll calm down 'bout him in a little while - she 's makin' up fer lost time right now, that's all." Kid felt rather proud of herself after saying this- she'd actually managed not to slur any of the words, despite her stuck lip. Sooner or later she'd probably have to tell the others about her predicament, but she really wasn't in the mood for that right now...

"I hope so," Marle replied. Then she mused, "Maybe I should try to hook her up with Frog - I think she has a thing for him... Only question is, what does he think?"

Korcha didn't pay much attention to the conversation- his main interest right now was admiring Kid's body...

o-o-o

As the water from the bath drained, Lucca and Crono toweled off.

"See, wasn't that fun?"

Crono nodded. Then, looking in the tub, he saw that the water was leaving quite a bit of dirt behind. He raised an eyebrow and jerked his head in the tub's direction.

Lucca looked in the tub. "Oh, my. We left a little bit of a mess, didn't we...? ...Well, since I washed you off, it's only fair that you be the one to rinse out the tub, right?"

Crono scowled at her, and she gave a nervous laugh.

o-o-o

"Well, this is an improvement," Marle said as she stretched, the dried slime cracking and flaking off at her joints. Where it flaked off, it left behind a layer of gray dust; however, her stone arm, and the rest of the parts of her body that didn't move, were still covered by a papery gray film.

"Oui, most definitely," Harle agreed, the dried mud on her body also cracking, and leaving mostly dust at her joints.

Marle turned to Kid and Korcha. "What about you two?"

"Um..." Kid said, tentatively touching her hands to her body.

Korcha meanwhile, laughed at the question. "Nothing much different with this stuff." Actually, the surface of the fluff had dried some, while the inside had gotten a little runny, but it wasn't really noticeable.

Finding that she could press firmly on her skin and clothes for a while without it sticking at all, Kid concluded, "Seems dry now... Thank goodness. That stuff was really annoying."

Korcha warned, "Still, cha might wanna be careful, just in case..."

Kid nodded.

"What are you two talking about?" Marle asked.

Harle added, "And iz it my imagination, or 'ave you been biting your lip zee entire afternoon?"

Kid blushed. Scratching the back of her head (or rather, the solid mass of glue and hair that covered it), she explained, "Well, apparently the stuff I've got me ish shome short of glue..."

o-o-o

After they'd finished cleaning out the tub, Lucca and Crono headed down to the library, which the rest of the Red Team was checking out.

An older man with a kind smile met them at the door and introduced himself as Zebadiah Peck, the head librarian. He eagerly showed them around the library, and told them to come ask him if they ever needed help finding a book.

The library really did have every kind of book - something for everyone (even if Ayla could only enjoy the pictures). Even for those who didn't usually read much, after almost two weeks without any entertainment (or contact with the outside world), this was a great change of pace.

o-o-o

"Well, this is a problem." Kid looked at her boots and gloves. Not only had she left them on the floor, but in a pile. As a result, they were now glued to each other, and the floor. "Guesh I won't be wearing them again until I get shomething to get rid of the glue..."

o-o-o

When supper time rolled around, Kid discovered another problem caused by her glue shower - as she couldn't fully open her mouth, it was hard to eat. Luckily, she could still drink alright.

o-o-o

That evening, the Gray Team had to decide how to handle sleeping arrangements. Not wanting to dirty their beds, Marle, Harle, and Frog decided to try sleeping on the floor. To help cut the cold of the stone floor, they stripped the bed that had been Pierre's, and agreed to share the sheets, blanket, and padding. Korcha, also not wanting to get his bed messy, opted to take the bunk where Pierre's bed had been, once it was stripped. As for Kid, since the glue was dry, and wasn't coming off on things, she was able to use her normal bed. However, like the rest of the team, she couldn't change into her night-clothes.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

**Day Fourteen **

Despite having spent the evening without getting stuck to anything new, Kid couldn't help but be a little afraid when she woke up that the sheets would be stuck to her. To her great relief, that was not the case.

o-o-o

After breakfast, most of the Red team went back to the books they'd borrowed from the library. However, Ayla was having none of that. If they were going to keep up in their unarmed combat training, they couldn't take days off just because of some new distraction.

o-o-o

As usual, the morning passed without much event, and before they knew it, lunch time had arrived. After lunch, Wedge came around, to tell the Gray Team they could wash up, and remind everyone it was almost time to gather in the Dare Room for the Bonus Dare game.

"So, I ashume you have shomething to get this glue off me," Kid said to Marian when she went to the supply room.

"Well..."

Kid scowled at her.

"I'm kidding! Of course we do! Did you bring a change of clothes? We'll have to send the clothes you're wearing right now straight to the wash after we get them off of you."

"No... I'll go get them. But my bootsh and glovesh are stuck to the floor back in the Gray Room. Could I have shomething to get them free?"

Marian nodded, then paused. "Actually, why don't I come with you - the solvent is rather dangerous if used improperly, so I should probably do it myself..."

It was strange for the players to see Marian outside of the Supply Room- she, Anar, and Reton had always stayed in there, waiting for the players to come to them. Similarly, the cafeteria staff and the librarian had never entered the players' part of the Funhouse (except when the cafateria staff was carrying food to the Challenge Room during the Pole-Standing Challenge back in the Preliminary Round). Only Vicks, Wedge, Piette, and Bekkler made a habit of entering the players' area.

"Oh my, they are stuck, aren't they?!" Marian commented, when Kid showed her the boots and gloves.

While Kid got out a change of clothes, Marian put on some rubber gloves and opened a vial of solvent. She poured it carefully around the edges of Kid's boots and gloves, and as the solvent touched the glue, it hissed and gave off an acrid-smelling cloud.

Kid raised an eyebrow. "Your gonna use that stuff on me?!"

Marian nodded cheerfully. "Yup! See how effective it is?" She worked at the glue with her hands, pushing her fingers (and the solvent) between the clothes, and between the boots and the floor. Then, with minimal effort, she pulled the gloves and boots free.

"It doesn't look very safe... Not that I'm afraid, of course!"

"Oh, it's perfectly harmless, so long as you don't leave it in contact with you skin for long."

This didn't really reassure Kid, but she couldn't think of a proper response that wouldn't reveal her apprehension.

Marian also removed Kid's skirt from the chair it had stuck to, though it would need mending as well as de-gluing.

Marian and Kid took Kid's clothes back to the supply room, where they left the glue-covered clothes for the laundry staff to pick up. Then, Marian took took Kid to one of the Supply Room's secluded nooks. This one had a drain in the center, as well as a water hose to the side.

"Ready?"

Kid nodded.

"Okay. Close your eyes- this could be a little irritating for them."

Somehow, Kid wasn't surprised.

Marian opened a bucket of the solvent, and once Kid had closed her eyes, dumped it on Kid. Kid instinctively shuddered, but it wasn't as bad as she'd feared. It wasn't cold, and the fizzing actually felt rather good on her skin (if quite strange). In fact, the only truly unpleasant part of it was the smell- but even that wasn't as bad as the smell of the glue had been at first.

Marian now began rubbing her hands over Kid's body, making sure the solvent got everywhere, and working it under her glued-on clothes.

Deciding this was a little too intimate, Kid said, "I think I can handle it from here..."

"Oh! Okay..." Marian said, sounding a little disappointed.

Having opened her eyes, Kid saw that Marian was watching her intently while she took up where Marian had left off. Marian tried her best to look innocent, but something told Kid that this was just an act. She'd have to consider getting someone else to help her with supplies in the future, Kid decided.

Once Kid had gotten her clothes off, and gotten her lip loose, she let Marian help work the solvent into her hair. Then, Marian used the hose to rinse Kid off.

Kid toweled off, and put her dry clothes on. They took the solvent saturated clothes and put them with Kid's boots and gloves, then Kid headed to the Dare Room, where the others were already waiting...

o-o-o

With his trademark cackle, Norstein Bekkler arrived. "Well guys, are you ready for you next dare assignments?"

A collection of nods and subdued "yes"es answered him.

"Gee, enthusiastic, aren't we...? Ah, well. First of all, how about a vote on how Harle did with her acting?"

This time, Harle got a full eleven out of eleven - not especially surprising, given that she'd done this one before.

"Congratulations, Harle! Great job!

"Now, to assign your dare categories. Ayla and Frog, if you'd care to do the honors?"

Ayla and Frog came forward and each spun the wheel. Ayla spun a "II" - Costumes. Frog spun a "I" - Clothing.

"If you'd make your bets?"

After they'd all written their bets down, Bekkler said, "Now, Ayla, if you'd spin to determine your team's dare?"

Ayla spun a King. (The team groaned.) Spin one for the King was 6c- Mereperson.

"Ooh! Do it, do it! An entire team of merepeople would be so cool!" Marle said.

Kid commented wryly, "You just don't want to be the only one who can't walk."

"Well, there is that, too..."

The second spin was 5c - Cowboy. And the third spin was 9c - Cyborg.

"So, to win points for the team, (not to mention, to pass your dares), you must all dress as cybernetic cowboy merepeople."

The Red Team looked at each other. Although not that bad of a dare, it certainly was one of the stranger ones!

"So," Lucca said, adjusting her glasses, "are we going to all attempt this, and get some more team points, or do we decide this individually?"

Serge said, "I don't really like the idea of not being able to walk for the rest of the game."

"It wouldn't necessarily be the rest of the game - if we got another costume dare, we could switch to that. "

"You want us all do this?" Ayla asked.

"Well... I don't really like the idea of not walking, either, but Marle's managed all right like that... There's also the prize money to consider- if we did this, it would be 12,000 GP more for the team..."

Leena said, "When you put it that way...! What do you say, Serge, you up for this?"

Serge wasn't sure that he was, but he nodded - he wasn't going to chicken out on Leena.

Lucca looked at Crono. "What do you think. Should we all try to do this?"

Crono put his hand to his chin and thought.

Even though she hadn't been consulted, Ayla let them know, "Ayla no like."

Meanwhile, each member of the Gray Team came up to spin for their dares.

Frog spun a Queen. The first of the following spins was a 3b - trade layer of clothing with another player, and the second a 5b - switch placement of two layers of clothing. For the first, he ended up with "Layer 2 (shoes, pants, and shirt)" with Kid; and for the second, he got Layers 1 and 2 (meaning he would need to wear his gloves and hero's medal - which he'd stuck in the underclothes part of the clothing form when signing up- over the traded clothes).

Marle spun a Jack. "Looks like no dare (or bet) for you, Marle."

"Aw!" Marle complained.

Korcha spun a Queen. This was followed by a 2a - remove a pair of articles of clothing , and a 3b - trade 1 layer of clothing with another player. For his first dare, he got "underwear and bra". "So you would have to remove your loincloth, or use one of your vouchers." For his second he got "Layer 1 (undergarments - underwear, bra, socks)" with Serge. "This would be Serge's underwear for your loincloth, Serge's gloves for one of your vouchers (you and Serge put your gloves in different spots on the clothing form), and Serge's socks (which are actually Leena's) for your foot wrappings."

"Cha... I don't know about this..."

Finally, Kid spun a 1b - trade one article of clothing with another player. Out of Bekkler's deck of cards, she ended up with "Left Shoe", traded with Robo. "Since Robo doesn't wear shoes, that would mean that you'd have to leave your left foot bare for the rest of the game, but you'd get one of his vouchers, if he agreed to it. Meanwhile, he'd keep your boot."

"Okaaay..." Kid said. Compared to the other stuff they'd had to do in the Funhouse, this was an incredibly small thing (heck, with her boots in the wash, she was barefoot as they spoke). Nonetheless, the idea of wearing just one boot still sounded odd. "I assume I don't have to wear anything on my right foot?"

"Of course not."

"Well, all right then. I would feel pretty silly wearing just one boot, but I guess goin' without them ain't too bad..."

Now it was time for Robo and Harle to get their dares.

Bekkler held out his deck of cards, and from it, Robo picked "Left Foot".

"I shall have my duplicate's left foot transmutated into plastic," Robo decided. Bekkler nodded and snapped his fingers.

Then Harle spun an 8 - Amnesia.

Marle complained, "Amnesia, again? What ever happened to variety?"

Harle, however, only asked, "Do I continue from where I left off before ze Bonus, or do I forget everything again?"

"Everything," Bekkler said.

"Very well." She blinked, then looked around. "Pardon moi, but where am I?"

Now Bekkler turned back to the Red team. "So, what'll it be?"

Everyone on the team turned to Crono. He nodded.

Lucca translated, "I guess we're all going to try it. Some of us might not complete it, though..."

Bekkler nodded. "We'll adjust the points accordingly, if it comes to that. In the mean time, if you'd reveal your bets?"

Marle cheered. "Yay! They're going to do it! This is going to be so fun." Marle giggled. Kid and Korcha rolled their eyes.

Crono had bet 4, so his points rose to 18. Lucca bet 3, so her points rose to 17. Serge bet 2, so his points rose to 7. Leena hadn't had any points, so her points automatically rose to 6. And Ayla bet 6, bringing her points up to 18. The team score rose to 24.

Now, it was the Grey Teams turn to make their choices.

"Frog, will you trade your armor, pants, and boots for Kid's shirt, skirt, and boots, and wear your Hero's Medal over the shirt?"

Frog croaked. "I shall - If thee wouldst agree to the trade, Kid?"

Kid thought about it. She asked Bekkler, "So, would I still not be able to wear a left boot, or would that transfer over to Frog?"

"That would depend on the order in which you trade articles. You would each need to spin for a random number to determine who goes first. Also, I should mention that if you agree to participate in Frog's dare, you would have to either wear Frog's clothes or not wear that type of article at all."

"You mean, I have to wear Frog's pants and armor?!"

"If he is to perform his dare, yes."

Kid was shocked. "But... I mean, would they even fit me?!"

Bekkler looked back and forth for a few moments, then said, "The pants might be a little short, but other than that, actually, I think they just might."

Kid scowled at him, then turned to Frog. "I'm sorry, but I... You clothes just aren't my style, y'know?"

Frog croaked, and nodded. "I understand."

Bekkler asked, "So, I take it you're not going to go through with it?"

Frog nodded.

"Very well then. And your bet?" Frog had bet 3 points, so his points dropped to 13.

Bekkler turned to Korcha. "So, to win your bet, you need to give your loincloth, foot wrappings, and 1 voucher to Serge, and he must give you his gloves, Leena's socks, and his underwear. You must also either use a voucher, or not wear Serge's underwear. What do you say?"

Korcha opened his mouth, then closed it. After a moment, he said, "Ah what cha hell - I could use cha money. Serge, cha mind trading cha clothes he mentioned?"

Serge thought for a moment, until Leena protested, "Hey, you can't give my socks to him! I wanted you to wear them! Besides, he doesn't wear any shoes - he'd ruin the socks!"

Not wanting to loose the bet so easily, Korcha said, "Hey, I'll get you a new pair, once we get out."

"...Well... So long as they're the same..."

With that settled, Serge nodded.

Korcha turned back to Bekkler. "Looks like I'm doin' it. Oh, and I'll use that voucher cha mentioned. I'm not quite ready to expose myself to cha entire House..."

Bekkler nodded. Korcha had bet 4 points, so his points rose to 8.

Finally, Bekkler turned to Kid. "And you said you'd trade your left boot for one of Robo's vouchers?"

"Yeah. You mind, Robo?"

"Negative. I would be happy to assist you in your dare, Mistress Kid."

Kid hadn't had any points, so they rose to six.

Bekkler stretched his hands. "Well, that ought to do it for today. Red Team, you should all head to the Supply Room to get your costumes... Although you might want to trade your clothes with Korcha first, Serge. The rest of you who are going to be performing new dares have already begun... So, I guess that's that."

Kid looked down at her taped feet, and said, "Yeah, I guess I am doing my dare already, at that..."

Bekkler concluded, "I'll see you later!" And, with a cackle, he vanished...

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

Next Time: The cyber-cowboy mermaids have arrived! And, beyond that insanity, a new Challenge looms, featuring, not messy stuff, but... _drum roll..._ **nudity**! [*cheering from hentai readers is heard*] Don't miss the next enthralling episode of The Funhouse! ...Coming This Summer! [*author is hit by thrown vegetables*] Ow! Ow! Oh, alright, alright! I'll try to get it done sooner. :)


	17. Episode Fifteen Part 1

Author's Note: When I said that this Episode would be coming out this Summer, I thought I was joking. I had no idea how close to the truth I was.

I want to thank all the fans who have stuck through these huge dry spells... especially Someone, who always reminds me to get back to the story every few months...

Well, then, on with the show!

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

. . . Chronos the Cat productions proudly presents the Spring 2005 edition of . . .

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse  
Episode Fifteen, Chapter One

Round Four, Part II

Previously: The Gray team had to deal with being drenched in messy stuff for 24 hours. For some it was easier than for others - Kid, who had been covered in glue, had a particularly hard time of things. Now, new dares have been assigned, and the Red team must all dress as cyborg cowboy merpeople!

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

**Character Scoreboard**

**Red Team **(Team points: 24):  
Team Prizes: Cafeteria, Library**  
**  
_***Crono: **__  
_Clothing: (pending: Cyber Cowboy Merman costume)  
Points: 18

_***Lucca**__:__  
_Clothing: (pending: Cyber Cowgirl Mermaid costume)  
Conditions: latex on face (~), clay mud in hair (~)  
Points: 17

_***Robo**__:__  
_(Serial Dare X: "Metamorphosis" into action figure.)  
Clothing Notes: Has Kid's left boot (not worn) & 5 vouchers.  
Conditions: Head, right foot plastic,  
Points: 72

**(Robo Doll)**:  
Clothing: Armor; helmet; leather tassels  
Conditions: Head, right foot, right arm plastic; covered in latex; left & right short leg casts; leather tassels in "shirt" position

_***Ayla**__:__  
_Clothing: (pending: Cyber Cowgirl Mermaid costume; 3 vouchers)  
Points: 24

_***Serge**__: __  
_Clothing: (pending: Cyber Cowboy Merman costume); 1 voucher  
Points: 7

_***Leena**__:__  
_Clothing: (pending: Cyber Cowgirl Mermaid costume)  
Points: 6

.

**Gray Team** (team points: 0):  
Team Points: Yard, Hot Tub**  
**  
_***Frog**__:  
_Clothing Note: 2 vouchers  
Points: 13

_***Marle**__:  
_Clothing: snake-woman costume with bikini top; 1 voucher  
Condition: right arm turned to stone.  
Points: 22

_***Korcha**__:  
_Clothing: Leena's socks; serge's underwear; vest; pony tail wrapping; Serge's gloves and/or his gloves; 1 voucher  
Conditions: traded clothing  
Points: 8

_***Kid**__  
_Clothing Notes: Not wearing boots or gloves. Not allowed to wear left boot. 1 voucher.  
Points: 6

_***Harle**__:  
_(Serial Dare VI: "Identity Crisis")  
Conditions: act as if had amnesia (until next bonus)  
Points: 66

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

**Day 14 continued  
**  
Korcha reflected that Serge's dark blue boxers actually didn't look too bad on him. However, Leena's purple socks looked very out-of-place. Still, it was a less ridiculous look than when he'd been covered in fluff...

While Korcha had put on the boxers and socks, Serge had stepped into the bathroom and changed into one of Korcha's clean loincloths. Now, they put their dirty boxers and loincloth in the hamper, and Serge gave Korcha his other clean pairs of boxers and Leena's socks, as well as his gloves.

"Well, guess I'll see cha later..." Korcha said, before heading back to the Gray Room.

Serge put Korcha's spare loincloth and his foot-wrappings away, then headed to the Supply room, where his teammates (except Robo) were being fitted for their costumes.

o-o-o-o

"I didn't know it was going to be this tight," Lucca commented as the group met up in the open area at the front of the supply room. She was wearing a mermaid-tail of a dull green similar to her normal shirt, a button-down shirt of a similar shade, and orange vest (closed). Instead of her helmet, she wore a cowboy hat; and her glasses had been replaced by smaller one-way lenses set in gray plastic, designed to make it look like she had cybernetic implants.

Marian said cheerfully, "Well, if it weren't, it would wrinkle, and whoever heard of a mermaid with a wrinkled tail?"

Lucca just shook her head. She then looked over at Crono. Seeing him in his outfit was consolation enough for the tightness of her tail, and the handicap it gave. He had a light-blue tail on, a tan vest which he had left open, his normal scarf, and a cowboy hat, along with plastic "armor" on his right arm. She smiled. Not only did she get to see Crono's bare chest, but his tail was tight too, and through it she could see some of the "sculpting" of Crono's legs.

Ayla had apparently decided to play up the "Mermaid" part of her costume - she had a classic green tail, along with her normal fur-bikini. The only signs of the "cowboy" and "cyborg" costumes were a cowboy hat and some high-tech looking wristbands.

Meanwhile, Leena had gone with a "cowgirl" look instead of a "cowboy" - she still had the dare's necessary cowboy hat, but was wearing a tan western-style dress. The fin which protruded from the end of the dress was a beautiful shade of purple. As for her "cybernetics", Lucca had to wonder if Marian had failed to inform her that they could choose the details of their costumes. Both of her arms were in rather large plastic "robotic armor" arm pieces, which didn't even have proper hands - instead, out of the end of the forearm pieces were three blunt movable "claws" that her fingers presumably fit inside.

Serge, having been the last one to get there, was the last to come out of his dressing room. Like Crono, he was wearing a blue tail, but his was darker. He wore a black vest over plastic "cybernetic" chest "armor", and had a black hat on.

Lucca commented, "So what, are you supposed to be the villain?"

Serge shrugged. "It reminded me of something I used to wear."

"Serge!" Leena said excitedly.

"What?"

"Look at these!" She held up her plastic covered hands. "Aren't they great?" She clicked the plastic "claws" together a few times, showing them off.

Behind her "goggles", Lucca blinked her eyes rapidly, then stared in astonishment. And here she'd always thought Leena was the sanest of the Funhouse players. It seemed the place had finally gotten to her...

Serge smiled, but Leena could tell he didn't really share her enthusiasm. Trying to clue him in, she said in a sly voice, "Of course, I don't know if I'll be able to feed myself wearing these clumsy things. You might have to help me, again..."

Lucca's eyes widened (again, hidden from view), then she smiled and rolled those eyes. So _that_ was what Leena was up to. She should have known.

o-o-o-o

The group managed to make it back to the Red Room (with a little help from Robo and the Gray team, the latter of which was anxious to see their new costumes), which ended up quite crowded, with most of both teams there. (Kid, Korcha, Harle, and Marle all invited themselves in to continue checking out the costumes.)

Before long, Ayla left, annoyed by the crowd, and wanting to experiment with what she could do with her limited mobility.

Once their curiosity was quenched, Kid and Korcha left (though not at the same time).

Having just started a new round of "amnesia", Harle had more questions to have answered than the others. Some of them were rather personal...

"He's mine!" Lucca and Marle both said when Harle asked if Crono had been "taken".

Marle scowled at Lucca. "When are you going to admit it's Crono's and my destiny to be married?"

"When I see the marriage myself!" Lucca said, in a similar tone, folding her arms. Then she broke into a grin, and she and Marle giggled.

Meanwhile, Leena put one plastic-clad arm around Serge. "And before you ask, Serge is taken, too."

Not long after that, Harle left.

o-o-o-o

Harle stood in the yard, staring up at the clouds moving slowly across the sky, and sighed. It was pathetic, she thought, that she had been reduced to this. By now, the others probably thought all she cared about was guys... But fighting was a skill of hers, not a pastime, and she couldn't exactly have meaningful conversations with anyone while she was pretending to have amnesia. Even when that wasn't her dare, it was difficult interacting with the others, as she had to constantly be alert that she stayed "in character".

This, combined with the limited means of entertainment provided to the players, left her with little to do with her time, besides "sightseeing", and just annoying the others for the heck of it. The latter of which, she had discovered, she could do quite well by flirting with them. (Except for Ayla - she didn't mind being flirted with, and there was no one else she had her eye on.)

She wished she had never entered this stupid game. She couldn't leave now, that would be admitting defeat. But she wanted to be able to interact properly with people, even if all she ever did was annoy or confuse them. She wanted to look for the Frozen Flame, even though she had a feeling that Serge and Kid weren't lying about it being destroyed.

...And, much to her surprise, she wanted to look for Lynx. For the longest time, he had been her only companion, the only one she could talk to as an equal. The only one who didn't see her as a monster, not even fit to be called "Demi-Human"... True, she knew he had never cared for her - he would have betrayed her in an instant, had it suited him, and she had fully planned on doing the same. (After all, only one person could use the Frozen Flame to shape the world to his or her will.) But still, they were allies, and respected each other... It wasn't much, but it was all she had.

...And, if Serge and Kid were right... If the Frozen Flame had been destroyed... If the world of the Reptites couldn't be restored... It might be all she ever had. A tear made its way down her cheek, matching the markings on her face.

A frog's croak interrupted her thoughts. She had been so lost in thought, she hadn't heard Frog opening the door and walking over. Quickly, she wiped the tear away, and turned to look at him.

"Oui?"

"I was passing by, and saw thee standing here. Is something the matter? Thee seemeth distraught."

"What? No, I am fine. Zank you for asking, though." She smiled to herself. She had almost forgotten - Chrono and his friends had a time machine! If she could get her hands on it, she could return to the time of the Reptites, and prevent their extinction. Her world would be restored, and then, she wouldn't be alone any more...

She just had to wait until this game was done...

o-o-o-o

Marle spent much of the afternoon giving the Red Team tips on getting around with one's legs in a costume tail. Meanwhile, Ayla continued to practice in the Dungeon, eventually even sparring against Frog.

Then Supper time rolled around, and the Red Team crawled to the Cafeteria. Or, at least, Crono, Lucca, Serge, and Leena did. Robo, of course, had no reason to go; while Ayla's afternoon of practicing had produced amazing results. Instead pulling herself along with her hands, as Marle had taught the others to do, she used her knees as a sort of "foot", which along with her hands allowed her to do a three "legged" walk, and even a variation on her normal four "legged" run.

At the dinner table, Leena's prediction proved accurate - Serge had to feed her, which forced him to focus on her the entire time.

After supper, Marle stopped by the Red Room, and hung out with Crono and Lucca.

Meanwhile, Leena discovered that while she could hold a book, she couldn't turn the pages, thus forcing her to ask for Serge's assistance to read the book she was borrowing from the Library. Serge wasn't sure what to think of Leena's helplessness. It was a little annoying having to take care of her like that; but on the other hand, it gave them a good excuse to spend more time together. Also, he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but she seemed to be more affectionate than usual, and to even be flirting with him more openly.

o-o-o-o

Having enjoyed spending the day with Crono and Lucca, Marle decided to sleep over, and told Robo to spend the night in the Gray Room. Kid and Korcha were a little annoyed with not having been consulted, but didn't argue too much.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

**Day 15**

...In the morning, Ayla suggested that practicing unarmed combat while handicapped might be even better training than normal, but the others disagreed, pretty much brining the unarmed training to an end for the duration of the costume dare...

When she got to the dare room, Ayla was disappointed to discover that it was raining outside. The weather didn't matter to her too much (especially since she wasn't even allowed outside), but she knew from experience that Frog loved rainy weather, and she suspected this meant he wouldn't be available to spar with.

She sighed. She hated how there was so little to do in the Funhouse between the challenges. Oh well. If worse came to worse, she could ask the Librarian to teach her about this "reading" thing...

o-o-o-o

"Something wrong with your clothes?" Korcha asked, as Kid adjusted her shirt for the third time in as many minutes.

"What...? No!" Kid quickly let go of her shirt, and returned to her breakfast. (Marshmallow cereal in chocolate milk; one of the closest things to a "normal" meal the Gray Team could get, still being stuck eating junkfood and nutrient supplements. At this point, it had gone from being annoying, to just being boring.) After a moment, she said quietly, "Just checking to make sure it's not stuck on, I guess..."

"That really freaked cha out, didn't it?" Korcha said, in a caring tone.

Starting to bite her lip, then quickly pulling it away, she nodded.

"If cha want to talk about it..."

"I don't even want ta think about it."

Frog, the only other person at the table at the moment, opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, not sure of what he could say to help.

While Korcha ate some of his cake, Kid stirred her cereal.

After a few moments, she said so quietly it was almost a whisper, and without looking up from her cereal, "I had a nightmare about it last night..."

Korcha put his hand on her shoulder closest to him. "It's all right. Cha glue is gone, and cha don't have cha let them put any more on you."

o-o-o-o

As Ayla had predicted, Frog spent much of the morning enjoying the wet weather. Harle also hung out in the yard, claiming she had never experienced rain before, and wanted to see what it was like.

At first, Frog assumed she wished to be left alone. (Her mood seemed to match the gray skies.) He obliged her, keeping to himself, and just focusing on the water all around him.

However, after one particularly long swim in the pool, he found her sitting by the edge of the pool.

When he climbed out and stood nearby, letting the rain wash away the water from the pool, she spoke.

"Zo, I hear zat you were not always a Frog - zat you were once a man."

Frog croaked. "Indeed."

"You must feel great loss - your former kind do not recognize you as one of zem."

"It was hard at first. However, I hath adapted. Having friends, such as Crono, Lucca, and the others helps, as well. What I look like does not matter to them."

"You are lucky in zis. ...But what of your new kin, ze demi-humans? What do zey t'ink of you? And you of them?"

Frog considered this. "I believe frogs are more my kin than are... demi-humans, as you call them... In the place and time of my origin, most 'monsters' serve the Magus - or his lieutenants, now that he is defeated. There is no place for me in their ranks, nor would I wish there to be."

Harle stared at the cloud-covered sky. "Zo... you are alone..."

Frog croaked. "Milady, in one way or another, we are all alone."

o-o-o-o

Korcha and Robo kept Kid company that morning, doing their best to cheer her up. (She chose not to hang out with the Red Team, as her nightmare had included being glued into a mermaid costume, and the last thing she needed was reminders of the dream.)

As for the Red Team, they kept themselves occupied with their books. (The Librarian was reluctant to try and teach Ayla reading and writing, until he discovered that she was a fast learner.)

o-o-o-o

After lunch, Vicks came around to announce the individual challenge, and the preparations for it. "The Individual Challenge will be in the Challenge Room, in a half an hour. Those of you wearing costumes may change out of them into your normal clothes now. You should all make sure you're wearing all the clothing you're entitled to wear at one time, before you head over."

"Speaking of which," he continued (when giving the instructions to the Red Team), "you'll need this, Robo." He handed Robo Kid's left boot, which was now clean and dry. After considering the matter, Robo hung it on his exhaust-pipe.

Vicks repeated his announcement in the Gray room, giving Kid back her right boot and her gloves.

As she put her gloves on, Kid asked, "So, you're saying I should wear my right boot...?"

Vicks nodded. "That's right."

"Don't suppose you could share why?"

"Actually, I don't know, myself. I was just told to pass the instructions on."

"Oh. Okay..." Given the nature of the Funhouse, Kid had an idea as to why they might want to be wearing all the clothes they could, but she decided to keep her suspicions to herself.

Marle had a question of her own. "What about my bracelets? Should I wear my real ones, or latex ones?"

"I'll have to check with Mr. Bekkler, but I assume you'll want latex ones. So far as I know, the only dares suspended during this Challenge are Costume Dares."

"Hmm..." Marle said as she thought about that. She supposed she would have to get Crono to paint some new ones on her.

o-o-o-o

As Crono slid the latex-covered brush around her wrist, Marle commented, "I think I like having latex put on a lot more than having I taken off. I just wish we had more time to enjoy it this time..."

When Crono moved to paint the arm-band on her stone right arm, she added, "And next time we need to put my arm-band on my left arm – it's no fun when I can't feel it."

o-o-o-o

The wooden podium & benches "setup" in the Challenge Room had been replaced; now there were 11 clear plastic podiums, one for each of them; and they were set up in a semicircle, so everyone could see each-other. In addition to Vicks and Piette, Marian and Anar had joined the group in the Challenge room.

Beckler rubbed his hands. "Today, we're going to play...

"...'Strip Trivia'."

_To be continued...  
_

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Author's Note: Okay, so the nudity will be next chapter, not this one. On the bright side, the next chapter is almost done. It's just that the full Episode is kinda big - enough so that I figured I should break it up. And, of course, if I'm doing that, I figured I might as well post the part that's done already.

Of course, the size of these Episodes is part of the reason it takes me so long between updates. (That and the fact that I'm horrible at managing time.) I've decided to break the Episodes up into chapters more often from now on... Hopefully, that'll help.


	18. Episode Fifteen Part 2

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

Episode 15 Chapter 2: Strip Trivia

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

The wooden podium & benches "setup" in the Challenge Room had been replaced; now there were 11 clear plastic podiums, one for each of them; and they were set up in a semicircle, so everyone could see each-other. In addition to Vicks and Piette, Marian and Anar had joined the group in the Challenge Room.

Bekkler rubbed his hands. "Today, we're going to play 'Strip Trivia'." There was a bit of commotion at this title. Lucca and Leena, in particular, were unhappy with this, while Korcha seemed intrigued.

Bekkler continued, "You'll be asked a series of questions, to which you'll have to write down the answers. (Ayla, we'll let you choose one of the staff to write down your answers, in a moment.) For each question, if you get the right answer, you move on to the next question. However, if you get the wrong answer, you must remove an article of clothing if you wish to continue. Should you get a wrong answer, and not wish to remove further clothing (or not have any left to remove), you loose the challenge. The last person in the challenge wins 6 points."

This explanation was greeted with a bit of dismay. Even prior to learning the name of this Challenge, Kid, Lucca, Serge, and Harle had all considered the possibility that they would need all their clothing because some of it would be removed in the challenge, but they had hoped it wouldn't be this extreme. And of course, those with a concern for their own modesty, such as Lucca, Leena, Marle, and Frog, didn't like it one bit. Still, most of the players were at least curious, if not looking forward to, the results of members of the opposite sex getting wrong answers, though few of them would ever admit it.

Bekkler continued, "Those of you who have vouchers will be given in-challenge vouchers, which you may use in lieu of removing clothing. Your original vouchers will still be valid outside of the challenge.

"Since we didn't have any evictions the past two rounds, the first 3 people to forfeit or fail shall face the Eviction Challenge.

"And, as always, if you do not wish to participate, you may forfeit the challenge now, however it will cost you up to 6 points, and put you at risk for eviction. Considering that you can give up at any point you are asked to remove more than you'd like to, I'd suggest you at least give this one a try; however, the choice is up to you."

Leena turned to Serge. "You have to forfeit."

"What? That would mean I'd have to face eviction!"

"Yeah, but everybody (besides that French guy) who's had to face it has made it..."

"I know... But I'd still have to do extra dares. Come on, I promise I won't look at anybody."

Leena replied sarcastically, "What are you going to do, keep your eyes closed the entire time?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Please, do it for me."

Serge hesitated. Here it was again - Leena asking him to make a sacrifice for the sake of their relationship, because she couldn't stand the thought of him looking at another woman. She was right that it would be hard not to see anyone this time, but that didn't mean he was going to be doing any ogling... Why couldn't she trust him?

Also, why was it always him who had to forfeit the challenge, while she continued on with it? Did she think it was okay for her to look at other guys, when it wasn't okay for him to look at other girls? Or did she expect him to trust her not to look, when she didn't trust him to do the same...?

Leena, meanwhile, hoped desperately that his hesitation was because he didn't want to have to do extra dares. Deciding to address that, she turned to Bekkler. "There isn't any way I could do his dares for him, is there?"

Bekkler shook his head. "I'm afraid not. All dares must be performed by the player to which they are given."

"I was afraid of that." She turned back to Serge. "I..." She tried to think of something to say. Their relationship once again had very suddenly started to feel like it was on shaky ground, and she desperately searched her brain for a way to fix things.

She was just about to tell him he could stay in the challenge if he really didn't want to risk eviction, when he spoke up. "All right. I'll forfeit."

Leena couldn't believe her ears. "You... you will?"

Serge nodded. "Since it's so important to you. But there's one thing- I want you to forfeit, too."

Leena blinked. "What?"

"If you don't want me seeing other girls naked, even by accident, then I don't want you seeing other guys naked, even by accident. ...Besides, we entered the Funhouse to spend time together - and we aren't exactly doing that if I'm waiting in the Red Room while you're busy with a Challenge."

Leena's eyes lit up. "Oh, Serge!" She grabbed him and gave him a hug. "I'd love to sit this challenge out with you."

Serge blushed.

Bekkler asked, "So you'll both be forfeiting?"

They nodded.

"All right then. Your points will be adjusted accordingly, and I'll meet you in the Dare Room when the Challenge is over, to assign your Eviction dares."

They acknowledged this, then headed. out.

Bekkler turned to the others. "Any one else wish to forfeit? Or anyone have a question about the challenge?"

Bekkler paused a moment, which gave Harle time to say, "I am 'aving a question, but it iz not about ze challenge."

He scowled. "If you must know, there was a lab accident... I really don't want to get into it."

"Oh... I nevair imagined a lab accident could make it rain..."

Bekkler blinked a few times. "... Anyway, if there are no other questions, let's get this started.

"If you'd all take a podium?"

They did so, and Vicks and Piette handed sheets of paper with "VOUCHER" written on them to those who had vouchers. (Frog got 2, Robo 6, Marle 1, Ayla 3, Kid 1, and Korcha 1.) Bekkler, meanwhile, floated over to Ayla, and asked if she'd like Marion or Anar (both of whom had volunteered) to write her answers down, or if he should have Vicks or Piette do it. (Wedge wasn't there, as it was his day off.)

Ayla chose Anar to be her transcriber. (Since he seemed to like her, she figured it wouldn't hurt to flirt with him a little, and this was a perfect opportunity.)

Crono chose a podium near the left end, and Lucca and Marle each took a podium next to him. (Marle took the one to the right, and Lucca to the left.) Frog almost took the next to the right, but Marle shooed him over to the podium on the other side of Lucca. (Lucca found this odd, but didn't think too much of it.)

Next to the right, after Marle, was Robo, followed by Ayla & Anar, then after a space, Kid, Korcha, and Harle.

Once everyone was in place, Bekkler cleared his throat. "So, you all know what to do? I'll give you the questions, and you'll write down your answers. After a minute, I'll ask you to reveal your answers, and we'll proceed from there.

"All right? Then, the first question is... 'What does the equation "E=MC squared" stand for?'"

Lucca smiled. _Hah, easy!_ she thought as she began writing.

Meanwhile, Ayla and Anar looked at each other. "I no know," she told him quietly. "Never heard before!"

"I've heard of it before, but I don't know what it means," he admitted, even more quietly.

After a minute had passed, Bekkler asked them to reveal their answers.

Lucca and Robo gave the correct answer: "Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared." Robo added a dictionary-style definition of it, while Lucca stated that it was the formula to calculate how much energy a given object was made up of.

A few of the others took guesses at it, but none of them got it right.

"Lucca, Robo, you continue on to the next question without a hitch. The rest of you must now remove one article of clothing, or give up one of your in-challenge vouchers, if you with to move on."

Without further prompting, Ayla began to sensuously unwind her "scarf" from her neck and body. Anar watched appreciatively.

Kid raised her hand. "I'll use a voucher."

Bekkler nodded, and came over to collect it. Frog and Marle both also chose to use vouchers. (This brought Frog down to one voucher, and Kid and Marle to none.)

Harle, after thinking a few moments, pulled off the metal armor that she wore over her breasts. Korcha watched this with a smile (Ayla's show being over), but of course, Harle was still well covered up.

For himself, Korcha puled off Serge's gloves. (He had his own on underneath.)

As for Crono, he untied his scarf, and put that down on the edge of the podium.

Bekkler glanced at the players. "Everyone done? All right, on to the next question! 'Name the major towns that existed in the year 12,000 BC.'"

Korcha burst out, "How cha hell we supposed to know that?"

Bekkler scowled at him, while Kid gave an amused smile.

A minute later, Bekkler asked for their responses.

Korcha and Harle had guessed, "Zeal". Crono and Marle had remembered "Enhasa," and had added on "Zeal Palace Town" for good measure. Lucca said "Enhasa, Algetty, Zeal Palace Town". Frog had remembered Enhasa, Algetty, and Kajar, but hadn't mentioned Zeal Palace itself. Robo, Kid, and Ayla, got it right, with a full list of "Enhasa, Algetty, Kajar, Zeal Palace."

A bit of groaning was heard at this point. Not only had many of them failed on something they knew more about than most people, but for Marle, and Lucca, they would now have to start removing clothing...

Frog handed in another voucher, while Korcha took off one of "his" (Leena's) socks.

Harle reached down, and pulled off her right shoe. Underneath was an extremely fluffy pink-white sock.

Marle sighed, and began taking off her bracelets and arm-band, while Crono took off his bandanna, and Lucca her helmet.

Crono noticed that Marle was sliding her bracelets off as opposed to tearing them off. When she glanced at him, he raised an eyebrow in question. She explained, "I figured if I kept this set of bracelets intact, the next time I need to put my bracelets on quickly I won't have to waste time waiting for a new set to dry..." He nodded in understanding.

Once they were done with that, Bekkler pulled out a card, and read the next question. "What is the name for a skill used by one person, in battle?"

Marle, Frog, Crono, Lucca, Robo, Ayla, and Kid all answered, "tech". Korcha incorrectly answered "element", while Harle didn't answer at all.

"Korcha, Harle, you'll each need to remove an article of clothing or pass in a voucher, to continue," Bekkler said unnecessarily.

Harle pulled off her other shoe, while Korcha pulled off "his" other sock.

"This feels a lot more natural," he commented.

The next question was, "Determine the area of a rectangle with sides of the length 34 and 83"

Needless to say, Lucca and Robo got it right, while Ayla was clueless. As for the others...

Frog, Crono, and Korcha's schooling hadn't included geometry, so they were as clueless as Ayla. Harle also apparently didn't know how to do it (although that might have been part of her amnesiac act). Marle and Kid however, were able to figure it out, though Marle had to work it out on her paper.

Bekkler confirmed, "The answer is 2,822. Ayla, Frog, Crono, and Korcha - time to give up another voucher or article."

Ayla pulled off her right cuff, and tossed it to Anar.

"Hey, that's a good look for you," Anar commented.

"Anar like?"

"Anar like," Anar confirmed, with a smile.

Frog, meanwhile, took off his Hero's medal, while Crono unbuckled his belt, and took off his outer tunic. (He was still wearing a black T-shirt underneath it.)

Korcha gave up his voucher, then turned to see what Harle would remove. She grasped the long tassels that hung from her neck, and pulled the collar of her jester's hat over her face. It was only as she began to pull her hat off that Korcha realized he'd never seen her head bare before. He wondered what color her hair would be.

...As it turned out, though, she didn't have any. The bald look wasn't too bad on her, except that her head (and in fact, her entire body) looked a lot smaller without her hat or a mass of hair to make it look larger than it really was.

After a moment, Kid said quietly, "Of course. She's part reptite, after all. Come to think of it, I'm surprised she even has breasts..."

Marle commented to Lucca, "Well, things are starting to get interesting, huh?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "I suppose. What I'm really waiting for, though, is Crono to take off his shirt, here."

Crono blushed.

Bekkler cleared his throat. "If you are all ready for the next question? Here it is: 'What are the names of the monarchs who ruled Guardia during the Magus War?'"

Korcha groaned. "Give us some easy ones, why don't cha?"

Of course, for Crono, Marle, and Lucca, the name of the Queen **was** an easy one. (Remembering the King's number, on the other hand, was a little more challenging.) Robo and Frog knew both answers, no problem.

Ayla wracked her brains for an answer. "Ayla should know... Ayla met them..."

Kid also was thinking hard - as Kid, she'd grown up in Guardia, so she had heard their names in stories about the time. She'd enjoyed the tales, too, as it had involved Big Sis and her friends...

Korcha and Harle, however, were once again facing a question out of their league.

After a minute, Bekkler asked them to reveal their answers. Korcha and Harle had both guessed, "King Guardia and Queen Guardia". The others had all got the Queen's name - Leene - correct, but only Frog, Robo, Marle, and Kid had been able to remember that the King was Guardia the 21st. (Lucca had come up with the 27th, while Crono had thought he was the 13th.)

"Queen Leene and King Guardia the 21st is correct. Everyone else, you know the drill by now."

Harle looked at Korcha. "I am zinking we will be wearing not very much quite soon."

"Cha got that right..." He smiled. "'Course, as long as I'm not cha first ta go, I don't mind too much."

Kid rolled her eyes.

Harle smiled, as she pulled off her gloves, to reveal dainty pale white hands with blue-green nail polish. "You like ze taking off of ze clothes, oei? Especially when it iz ze girls who are doing it?"

Korcha blushed.

Perhaps because Lucca had requested it, Crono took off his bracers and his shirt.

Marle said in a somewhat dreamy voice, "I just love that muscled body..."

"No kidding," Lucca agreed, blushing underneath her latex mask, and adjusting her glasses.

Ayla, meanwhile, kicked off her left boot.

Bekkler cleared his throat. "You need to take something off, too, Korcha and Lucca."

Korcha had completely forgotten. "Oh, right!" He reached back and untied his pony tail, and dropped the string with the rest of his clothes. Kid snickered a bit - his wirey hair bounced outward in an unruly manner.

As for Lucca, she continued blushing. Not only had she been distracted by Crono's physique, but she wasn't used to being told to remove clothing. After a moment's hesitation, she untied her scarf, and took off her tunic. She was soon able to recover her composure, as her shirt and leotard were more than sufficient to protect her modesty. (In fact, she often dressed that way at home - it was really only "in public" that she wore her helmet and outer tunic.)

"Well, on to the next question: Given 'x = y + z', determine the value of 'y' if 'x = 81' and 'z = 15'."

Lucca scoffed. "Another easy one!"

"Speak for yourself," Marle said.

Korcha commented, to no one in particular, "Yup, she's gonna win."

Once she got over her intimidation, Marle discovered that it wasn't as bad as she'd thought - all he was asking, really, was for the answer to "81 = y + 15". This was just simple algebra, so if she could remember what she'd learned from her tutors in time, she might make it...

_Let's see... I remember that you can do the same thing to both sides of an equation... I guess in this situation, we'd want to subtract the 15, I think... That would make it "81 - 15 = y". Yes! Now I just need to figure out 81 - 15..._

She scribbled down "66" just as Bekkler announced that the time was up.

Lucca, Robo, Marle, and Kid revealed their answers. (Nobody else had any clue.)

"And the answer is, 66! Congratulations, Lucca, Robo, Marle, and Kid."

Lucca smiled and said to Marle, "And you were worried."

"Well, it wasn't exactly easy for me." Then she smiled. "But I guess Crono's the one who should be worried, huh? Looks like he has to take off something else!"

Crono blushed. He knelt down and took off his right boot.

There was a loud "clang", as Frog took off his armor. Lucca glanced over. She stared for a moment, then adjusted her glasses. "Say, he has a pretty good chest, for a frog!"

Frog croaked with embarrassment, and Marle smiled to herself.

On the other side of Crono and the girls, Ayla kicked off her other boot. "This boring. Ayla want question Ayla can answer!"

Meanwhile, Korcha quickly pulled off his right glove, and looked to see what Harle would take off.

Kid sighed. Why did it bother her that Korcha was paying more attention to Harle than her? Sure, his crush on Kid was amusing, but she didn't share his feelings. The only guy here she was interested in was Serge, but she wasn't going to push him while he was going steady with Leena. Or at least, that was what she told herself was the reason for her not pursuing him.

Actually, come to think of it, she wasn't certain how interested in Serge she really was. She liked him, as a friend, and there was even some chemistry between them... but she wasn't quite sure he was what she was looking for in a love interest. ...But, she was sure Korcha wasn't what she was looking for...

Harle smiled at Korcha. "You are waiting for one of us girls to remove something interesting, no?"

Korcha nodded. "Cha could say that..."

She winked at him, then reached up to her neck, and grasped the edges of her shirt. In a fluid movement, she stretched out the opening, and pulled it down over her shoulders. As her chest was revealed, blood spurted from Korcha's nose (and a large bulge grew in his shorts) - she wasn't wearing a bra. The show wasn't over yet, though. As she pulled it down past her waist, it was revealed that her harem pants were transparent at the top as well. Of course, she was still wearing panties, but they were a rather skimpy pair.

Korcha couldn't admire the view for very long though - Bekkler soon launched into the next question.

"Question seven: Name as many battle-accessories as you can. This is a special bonus question- the person who comes up with the most valid answers gets to put one article of clothing back on (or gets a voucher), and so long as you can come up with a single correct answer, you don't need to remove anything."

Robo, with his advanced memory retention, was able to list the most items; for his efforts he received a voucher.

"I've changed my mind," Korcha said. "Robo's gonna win."

Luckily, as all of them had experience with equipment for battle, they could all think of at least one. Even Harle managed to come up with a few, despite her "amnesia".

"Question eight: What is the largest nation in the world?"

Even Frog and Ayla had heard of the fall of Guardia and the rise of Porre (plus it had came up in the previous Trivia Challenge), so this time the answer was almost unanimous.

Kid gave Harle a strange look, and Korcha stared. "You didn't know that Porre ruled cha world?"

"Perhaps I did, but I do not recall. My memory is quite hazy, oui?"

Kid commented, "Yer devotion to yer dares is admirable, but if ya keep this up yer gonna be facin' eviction..."

"Do not worry, Mademoiselle Kid - ze eviction challenge iz no threat to moi," she said confidently, as she removed her left sock.

The next question was, "What is the most powerful of all blades?"

Crono, Robo, Frog, and Kid remembered from the previous Trivia Challenge that it was the Spectra Swallow; everybody else got it wrong. (Marle called it the "Prism Swallow", and Lucca called it the "Spectrum Blade". Ayla, Korcha, and Harle couldn't even come that close.)

Harle pulled off her other sock, while Korcha added his last glove to his pile of clothes.

Marle took off her hair-band. As her hair spilled loose, Crono commented, "You look good with your hair down."

"...You think...?" Marle gave an astonished reply, shocked that it had impressed Crono enough to get him to speak. Maybe her chances of getting his attention when in her Naga-ette costume weren't as bad as she'd thought...

Lucca sighed. "Well, guess I might as well keep going..." She pulled off her right boot.

Ayla turned to Anar. "You like Ayla wear one cuff?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Ayla keep it on longer. Use voucher now."

"Oh! ...Okay." He'd actually hoped she'd keep saving them, but he decided not to argue with her.

Once Ayla had handed in the voucher, Bekkler continued on to the next question. "What sort of weapon can you steal from a Nu?"

Ayla giggled. "Ayla know this. Do it once. Give to Crono."

Crono rolled his eyes. It had certainly been a strange gift...

When Bekkler asked them to reveal their answers, only Crono and Ayla had the correct answer - a mop. (It hadn't struck the others the way it had Crono and Ayla - a lot of the stuff Ayla charmed from enemies was relatively useless, though this had to be the most useless of them all. Even Robo had deleted the information to save memory space.)

Robo, rather than using one of his many vouchers, took this opportunity to remove Kid's boot from his exhaust pipe.

Frog pulled off his cape. "Methinks this challenge is to get quite undignified soon..." he commented.

Marle carefully took off her pendant, and placed it on the floor with her hair band and bracelets. "Yeah, but most of us still have a few things we can take off without it getting embarrassing."

"Thank goodness for that," Lucca said, as she pulled off her left boot, leaving her in stocking feet. "And I think we're only a few questions away from finding out who the third person to face eviction this round is," she commented, glancing over at the other side of the stage, where Korcha was taking off his vest, and Harle her pants.

Seeing Korcha and Harle in their underwear, Kid turned away in disgust. "They're certainly two of a kind!" She used a bit more force than necessary kicking off her boot.

Meanwhile, Crono was glad the podiums were see-through: he was at a good angle to see Harle in all her glory. Of course, Marle and Lucca wouldn't like it if they noticed he was paying her any attention; but luckily, the way the podiums were situated, he could look in that direction without it being too obvious.

"The next question is another bonus question: Identify Pi to as many digits as you can in the allotted time. The winner gets to put back on an article of clothing. No penalty for failure."

It was no contest - most of the players didn't even know where to start. Marle and Kid remembered "3.14", but that was it. Only Lucca and Robo could actually list any further digits, and Robo was able to do it far faster and further than Lucca.

As his reward, he put Kid's boot back on.

"Next question: What is the name of the mountain range at the northern edge of the southern continent of Zenan?"

Frog, and Robo recalled that it was the Denadoro mountains; the others couldn't remember (or hadn't known in the first place).

As she knelt down to unbuckle her right sandal, Marle said to Lucca, who was taking off her right sock, "Guess it's barefoot time, huh?"

"Er... I guess so," Lucca replied, as she tried to figure out if there had been any point to that observation.

Between the two of them, Crono took off his left boot. Meanwhile, Ayla handed over another voucher. Kid took off her vest.

Korcha watched Harle anxiously. Would she take off her panties? He would certainly enjoy that, but it would be better for him if she forfeited. After all, he was also down to almost nothing, and he didn't want to be the first one to forfeit (and thus be the third up for eviction).

Ever so slowly, Harle slid her fingers under the edge of her panties, and began pushing them down. When she got as far as she could reach easily, she winked at Korcha, turned away from him, and began bending over to continue to push the panties down.

This was too much for Korcha. More blood spurted from his nose, and his (Serge's') boxers became visibly wet.

Bekkler asked, "Well, Korcha?"

Korcha looked up, blushing furiously, and covered his crotch. "Forfeit," he said. Letting someone see him naked was one thing, but doing so in his current condition was just a little too much...

"Very well then. You may leave the podium, and put your clothes back on. After the challenge is over, we'll meet in the Dare Room."

He gathered his clothes, and walked away from the podiums. He sat down on the floor close enough to continue to observe the going's on, and began to put his clothes back on.

At this point, Frog wore his pants, boots, and gloves; Lucca wore her shirt, leotard shorts, and her left sock; Crono wore his pants, and socks; Marle her shirt, pants, and left sandal, Robo still wore everything including Kid's boot, and had 7 vouchers; Ayla wore her left cuff, her bra, and her loincloth, and had 1 voucher; and Kid wore everything but her boots and vest. Harle was naked.

"Shall we continue?" Bekkler asked. "Your next question is: 'Who were the greatest scientific minds of the Kingdom of Zeal?'"

Ayla remembered Melchior easily enough - she'd met him and role-played as him. She wasn't so sure who the other minds might be.

Crono, Lucca, Frog, Kid, and Robo all answered correctly: "Belthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar." Marle almost forgot Gaspar, but remembered at the last minute. Harle had no clue (and wouldn't have had one even without her amnesia dare).

Bekkler told them, "Ayla you must remove an article of clothing or use a voucher. Harle, I'm afraid you're out of the game."

"If I did not have amnesia, I would have won. Howevair, I am not facing ze eviction, so I am happy." She began putting her clothes back on, but not in a particularly hurried fashion.

Ayla used her last voucher.

"Next Question. What is 2,384 minus 487?"

Ayla growled to Anar, "Ayla no like trivia."

Lucca and Robo did it in their heads. Marle and Kid had to use paper. Crono guessed 1,903, while Frog couldn't work it out in time. Ayla knew better than to even attempt it.

Ayla whispered to Anar, "What Anar think Ayla should take off next?"

Anar couldn't believe his luck. "You're asking me...?"

Ayla nodded.

"Well, like I said before, I like how you look with just the one cuff on... So either your top or your loincloth, I guess." Anar smiled to himself. Either way worked for him, really.

Soon Bekkler asked for them to reveal their answers. After looking them over, he told them, "The answer is 1,897. Crono, Frog, and Ayla, you'll need to remove clothing."

Frog sighed and pulled off his left glove, while Crono began to take off his right sock. He stopped halfway through though, when Korcha gasped. Those who hadn't already been paying attention to Ayla now turned to Korcha, whose gaze was on Ayla - thus directing their gaze her way as well. To everyone's surprise (though not necessarily all that big of a surprise to those that knew her well), she had chosen to take off her loincloth!

Noticing their surprise, she shrugged and explained, "Everyone start at top, work down. Ayla thought make things interesting, do different."

Lucca shook her head. "It figures. I'm just glad Leena and Serge aren't here - Leena would flip!"

Marle tapped Crono on the shoulder. "Okay, you've seen what all the fuss is about. You can stop looking now." He blushed, and returned to pulling off his sock.

As soon as Crono had finished, Bekkler asked, "What body of water in El Nido is known by two names, and what are those names?"

Out of those remaining in the Challenge, only Kid knew Bekkler was referring to the "Sea of Eden" / "Dead Sea".

Marle unbuckled her left sandal while Lucca and Crono removed their left socks, leaving all three of them barefoot. Robo used a voucher, dropping down to 6. Frog removed his right glove. Ayla pulled off her top, much to the appreciation of the males watching her.

Crono forced his eyes away from Ayla when he realized Marle and Lucca were both scowling at him.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "We're really getting down there now. What do you think, Marle, Crono? Should we stop the next time we get one wrong?"

Marle said, "Aww, that's no fun! ...Although, the idea of taking off any more clothing..." She began to blush. "...Well, why don't we just see how it goes."

Lucca shrugged. "Use our own judgment you mean?"

"That too."

"Okay."

The next question was, "Given x = y - z, determine the value of y if x = 27 and z = 12."

"More algebra, huh?" Marle asked uneasily. For once, she wished she'd paid a bit more attention to her math tutor...

_That's 27 = y - 12... So, y is 12 + 27... I think. _

Marle, Lucca, Kid, and Robo answered, correctly, 39. Crono, Frog, and Ayla were once again clueless.

Frog took off his right boot.

"This silly," Ayla complained as she took off her left cuff, leaving her naked. "Ayla no can win!" She scowled. "But, Ayla never give up!"

Marle and Lucca gazed at Crono intently, and not just to keep him from looking in Ayla's direction.

"So, what's it gonna be?" Marle asked.

"Yeah, you going to take off your pants, or do you give up?"

Crono blushed, and scratched his head. Finally, he answered, "Give up."

Marle said, "Aww, darn," then giggled.

Crono started putting his clothes back on.

Bekkler, in the announcer tradition of stating the obvious, said, "The challenge is now down to Marle, Lucca, Frog, Robo, Ayla, and Kid. Shall we continue?"

As Crono went to join Korcha and Harle watching from the sidelines, Bekkler said, "Name the main human villages 65 million years ago."

"Finally! One Ayla can answer!"

Ayla, Lucca, and Robo answered, "Ioka and Lauraba." Marle guessed "Ioka and Laura," while Frog had "Yoka and Lauraba". Kid was clueless.

"You all know the drill. Marle, Frog, Kid - one article each."

Frog removed his other boot, while Kid took off her gloves. Marle looked down at her clothes, blushing. Finally, she said, "No, I can't do it." She looked up at Bekkler and made it official. "I forfeit."

Bekkler nodded. He started reading the next question even as she crouched down to get her clothing.

"What do the people of Medina call themselves?"

While the remaining contestants answered the question, Marle walked over to Crono and Korcha. "Why are you still here?"

Korcha answered first. "I consider it cha learning experience."

Marle said dryly, "I suppose that's why your shorts are wet."

Korcha blushed, and covered his crotch.

Crono finally answered, "You... and Lucca."

"...Oh, right. I suppose it would be interesting to see whether she can win. ...But I don't want to catch you staring at Ayla again! She's taken, you know!"

Meanwhile, the contestants revealed their answers. Lucca, Robo, and Frog answered correctly, "Mystics" (though it was just a lucky guess for Frog). Kid guessed incorrectly "Demi-Humans", while Ayla went with the unimaginative "People of Medina."

"Kid, you need to remove an article of clothing. Ayla - you're out." Bekkler announced.

Kid crouched down and removed the tape from her right foot.

Ayla sighed. She picked up her clothes, and headed over to where the others were watching everything. Marle covered Crono's eyes until Ayla had sat down.

"Next Question;" Bekkler continued, "Which types of magic cancel each other out?"

Robo remembered the correct answer from the previous trivia challenge. Kid knew the answer already. But Frog and Lucca couldn't remember so well. Lucca put down "Red & Blue, Black & White", but couldn't remember the other colors. Frog guessed, "Lightning & Shadow, Fire & Water, Earth & Air".

"The answer is Black & White, Red & Blue, and Yellow and Green. We also would have accepted 'Light and Shadow, Fire and Water, Lightning and Earth', but none of you got that. Frog, Lucca - time to take more off."

Frog croaked. "Methinks I shalt quit at this point."

Bekkler nodded. "And you, Lucca?" he asked, as she had not yet taken anything off.

She adjusted her glasses. "Well..." She really didn't want to take anything more off... but she had gotten into this trivia game now, and wanted to see who would win - her, Robo, or Kid. Robo had a major advantage, as had been already shown, but he wasn't perfect. If she stayed in the game a bit longer, maybe she could at least figure out if she had a chance...

Blushing under her latex mask, she gulped, reached down, and pulled off her shirt.

Marle's jaw dropped. After a moment or two, she managed to comment, "I can't believe she had it in her to do that!"

Korcha grinned. "I love this game." She was wearing a conservative bra under the shirt, but still...

"Ready for your next question? It's another bonus question. 'Name as many magic spells as you can.' So long as you can name at least one, you don't have to remove anything. The winner can put something back on or will receive a voucher."

Lucca and Kid both easily listed off their own spells, as well as some of the spells of their companions. Robo, of course, had a far longer list of virtually every spell Crono's party possessed, as well as that of many of the enemies they'd faced.

Robo got a voucher, giving him seven in all.

Lucca sighed, and leaned on her podium. "Who am I kidding? Robo has this one in the bag."

"Next question. This one is multiple choice. 'Scientists believe the continents of Guardia (North Zenan) and Medina are: A- sinking; B- rising; C- moving towards each other; or D- moving apart.'"

Having seen both the past and future, Lucca and Robo both knew that the two continents in question were in fact moving closer together over time. Kid, unfortunately, was only familiar with the Dark Ages and the Present, and didn't follow modern science. She guessed "moving apart", as she knew the continents had been moving apart in the Dark Ages.

"The correct answer is C, moving towards each other. Kid?"

She shook her head in annoyance, then bent down and undid the wrappings from around her left foot. Much like Lucca, she knew that her being able to beat Robo was unlikely, but she was too stubborn to give up when she still had clothing she didn't mind removing.

"Moving right along, 'What is the name of the Kingdom that ruled the world 12 thousand years ago?'"

None of the three had to think before giving the answer, "Zeal."

"Next, 'How long ago was the war between Guardia and the Magus?'"

Lucca almost said 400 years ago, then remembered at the last minute that they were 20 years in the future, and changed it to 420 years ago.

"420, give or take a few years, is correct!"

Marle commented, "Wow, this could go on a while!"

"What is the formula to find the area of a circle?"

All three answered, "Pi r squared."

"Bonus question: Name as many modern day towns as you can."

Lucca and Robo answered, "Truce, Medina, Porre, Choras, Termina." Kid answered, "Truce, Porre, Termina, Guldove, Arni, Marbule." With one more answer than the other two, Kid got to put the wrapping back on her right foot.

"Who is the most beloved musician in the world?" Robo and Kid remembered that it was Nikki. Lucca didn't.

"Well Lucca, shall you be removing another article of clothing?"

"Um..." She thought about it a moment, before answering, "No. There's not much of a chance of my beating Robo, so it would really be pointless."

"As you wish."

Lucca pulled her shirt back on, then took her clothes over to the others. "Guess we might as well stay and see how long Kid lasts, huh?"

"Might as well," Marle agreed.

Bekkler asked, "Who were the racers at the Guardia Millennial Fair?"

Robo remembered that it was "Catalack, G.I. Jogger, the Green Ambler, and the Steel Runner." Kid could only remember, "the Jogger, the Ambler, and the Runner."

Kid took her foot-wrappings off again.

"What was the name of the last ruler of the Reptites?" "Azala."

"What retired wrestler currently lives in Termina?" Kid answered "Greco", correctly; while Robo was unable to answer, and took Kid's boot off again.

"What are the negative conditions that can affect a person during battle?" Robo answered "Sleep, Chaos, Slow, Lock, Poison, Blind, Stop." Kid answered "Slow, Sprain, Frozen, Flu, Burnt, Confused, Sleep, Cursed, Dizzy, Fatigued."

As both lists were incomplete, Kid removed her hair ribbons and her pendant, and Robo gave up a voucher.

Noticing that Kid didn't seem too happy with the way things were going, Korcha called out, "Go, Kid! You can beat that tin-can!"

Kid glanced at him and gave him a small smile.

Marle joined in, shouting, "Go..." before realizing she didn't know who to root for. "...Er, both of you!" She turned to Lucca, and said quietly yet forcefully, "Well, cheer Robo on!"

"What...? Um..." In a voice not much louder than normal, she said, "Good luck, Robo."

Robo turned to Lucca, and nodded.

Bekkler cleared his throat, and continued. "What is the mathematical notation for the Pythagorean Theorem?"

Robo answered correctly with "c squared = a squared + b squared." Kid couldn't answer.

"Well, Kid?" Bekkler asked.

Kid hesitated. She glanced over at the "audience". Finally, she said, "Aw, what the hell. It's not like everyone hasn't seen me without my skirt already." She undid her skirt, and tossed it onto the rest of her clothes.

Marle put her hand to her forehead. "I hope she doesn't plan on going all the way. That would make three girls who took everything off, when none of the boys did. It's unfair enough as it is."

Lucca shook her head at this.

Meanwhile, Crono and Korcha (Korcha especially) were enjoying the view... Of course, as with when she'd gotten the glue on her, her panties were modestly cut. Still, it was the idea that counted...

"What land-mass has endured unchanged for the longest amount of time?" Both answered correctly, "the Island of the Sun Keep".

"Bonus question: Name all the games you can that are played with a ball."

Robo, being unfamiliar with human pastimes, could only come up with a few: "Catch, Fetch," (he'd seen a boy playing fetch with his dog using a ball, once), and "Blitzball." Kid wasn't exactly a sports fanatic in either of her incarnations, but she was able to come up with "Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Catch, Nu Ball, Sun Ball, and Tennis."

Rather than put her skirt back on, she just grabbed her pendant and put it around her neck.

"What is 438 divided by 9?" Kid got 48 with a remainder of 6; Robo got 48.66, with the six endlessly repeating. Both were counted as correct.

"What is the name of the rebel group that opposes Porre?" "Radical Dreamers."

"What was the dominant species 65 million years ago?" "Reptites"

"Under what circumstances would you not want to use the most powerful weapon or piece of armor that you can?" Both mentioned that some weapons and armor have special attributes which make them useful against certain types of enemies; and that some items can cause the user to behave uncontrollably, going berserk or getting confused.

"What is the main disadvantage to a "instant death" or "banishment" spell?" Both of them pointed out that these spells often fail to work.

"What is the speed of light in a vacuum?"

Robo answered: "299,792,458 meters per second (approximately 186,282.4 miles per second)." Kid, however, had only even heard of it from Lucca as a kid, and certainly couldn't remember it.

Kid took her pendant off again.

And so, the contest continued. "Who invented Fireworks?" Bekkler asked. The answer: "Taban".

"Who caught the worlds largest recorded fish?" Neither of them knew the answer to this one.

Robo gave up another voucher. Kid however...

"Well, that's enough. Wining this Challenge isn't important enough to be worth taking anything else off."

Bekkler nodded. "In that case, Robo wins the Challenge!"

As Kid put her clothes back on, Bekkler said, "Korcha, you should join Leena and Serge at the Dare Wheel, so the three of you can choose your Rescuers, and spin for their services. The rest of you may watch, if you like, but other than that, should get back into any costumes you're supposed to wear."

And so, everyone headed out.

_To be continued..._

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Author's Note: Normally, I'd end the Episode here, for length reasons; but since I'm breaking the Episodes up into chapters now, I'll end it after the Eviction Challenge.

Speaking of which, I haven't written that yet. Hopefully, I can get it written without another huge break...

Oh, and regarding the ball games mentioned above, Nu ball and Sun Ball I came up with on the spur of the moment. Nu ball would be what the monsters at the entrance to Truce Canyon were playing; while Sun ball is like the Mayan ball game (sort of like a combination of soccer and volleyball – you try to keep the ball off the ground without using your arms and hands) only no one gets killed. As for Blitzball, bonus points to anyone who knows where I got that one from!


	19. Episode Fifteen Part 3

Author's Note: With a yawn, Chronos stretched and got up. "Ah, what a nice nap. I wonder what time it is... Mid June?! I overslept! Now I'm late uploading the next chapter of Chrono Funhouse! ...If only time-travel worked in this world..."

Oh, and Willow Wind Song's points rise by 6.

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Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

by Chronos the Cat

Episode 15, Chapter 3  
Round Four Part Three (Continued)

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Serge, Leena, and Korcha stood at the Dare Wheel, waiting for Bekkler to arrive. Marle, Crono, Lucca, and Kid waited with them, either to provide support, or because they were curious as to what dares the three might be asked to perform.

With his usual cackle, Bekkler descended from the ceiling. "Alright. Have each of you decided on who you want to be your rescuers?"

Serge looked at Leena, then said, "We'll both go with Lucca, Robo, and Kid." (They had discussed it while the others were doing the challenge.)

Korcha said, "I'll go with Lucca, Harle, and Kid."

Marle commented to Lucca, "Wow, you're popular!"

Lucca laughed and said grandiosely, "That's because everyone knows I'm the best!"

"Well, if you're talking about aim... But even then, that's only because I'm handicapped right now."

Bekkler said, "Serge, if you'd spin the wheel?"

For Lucca, Serge spun a VI 1 – act like another player. Picking a card, he got "Frog".

Bekkler told him, "As with most Role-playing dares, this will be for only 24 hours, but the other players will vote on your performance afterward to determine if you succeeded."

"I guess I can try that..."

For Robo, he spun a VI 6 – wear a cast.

"A cast? Like Marle wore?"

"Yes, but it won't be your entire body, just one part, and you'll need to keep it on for the rest of the game. If you'll pick a card, I can tell you which."

Picking a card, he picked, "Right short-leg cast".

"So that would be a cast that covers your lower right leg, from a little below your knee, to just above your toes, immobilizing your ankle."

"I guess that's not... too bad."

For Kid, he spun a III 5 – cover palms with messy stuff. Picking a card, he got "Marshmallow Fluff, 24 hours".

Serge shrugged. "I guess I might as well do it..."

Leena now spun for Lucca. She got VI 5c – talk only in rhymes.

"That could be tough... But it's only for 24 hours?"

Bekkler nodded.

"Well, I suppose..."

For Robo, she spun a IV 4b – wear handcuffs.

"For how long?"

"The rest of the game."

"Oh, my..." The thought of this actually exited her a little bit, but she tried to make it sound more like dismay. She'd already gotten a bit of teasing for her choice of "cybernetic parts", no need to provide any more fuel.

For Kid, she spun a VII 8a – lie in a bug pit for 5 minutes.

"Wha-a-at? A ... 'bug pit' ...?"

"Yes, a pit filled with bugs. Nothing harmful, mind you. Nothing that stings, has a poisonous bite, or would suck your blood. Just a few thousand harmless beetles, worms, ants, grubs, and the like."

Leena's jaw dropped. After a few moments, she said, simply, "No."

Finally, it was Korcha's turn. For Lucca, he spun X 3a – transformed into a feline demi-human.

"A demi-human?"

"Yes. For the remainder of the game."

"Well, so long as I'm back cha my normal self afterwards..."

For Harle, he spun an IX, then a King, followed by 9b, 5d, and 8d. 9B was a body part turned to glass. Picking a card, he got Right hand. 5B was a Haze spell (vision blurry), the effects of which would last until he'd had a good rest. 8D was a Forgetfulness Spell (absent minded) for 24 hours.

"That's... just a little too much. I'll pass."

For Kid, he spun a Joker, then a VI and a b – Slave to all players for 24 hours.

"For 24 hours, you would have to obey any command any of the other players gave you, so long as it didn't involve sex, breaking the law, causing injury, or stopping one of your other dares."

"Cha..."

Marle cried, "Oh! Do it, Korcha! I know Kid wants you to!" She turned to Kid. "Isn't that right?"

"Er..."

Korcha shook his head and shrugged. "What cha hell. It'll be worth it to stay in cha game."

_...And so, not long afterwards..._

Serge, Leena, Korcha, Lucca, Robo, and Kid entered the Funhouse Lobby. Lucca was back in her Cyber-Cowgirl Mermaid costume and Kid boot-less, while everyone else was in their normal outfits. Korcha, Leena, and Serge had all even traded their clothing back to its original owners – if Korcha or Leena left, the clothing trade dare he or she accepted would be ended, and this way the evicted player(s) could leave without stopping to get their clothing back first.

Bekkler soon showed up. "Welcome, to the Round Four Eviction Challenge. For those of you who haven't participated in an Eviction Challenge before, I'll explain the rules. The person in danger of eviction shall be hung by a rope over one of these fake flames. Meanwhile, I'll release three monsters into the room. The rescuers will then throw rocks at the monsters, to chase them off. You'll also need to push that button on the wall occasionally, to prevent the potential-evictee from being lowered into the flames. If they do get lowered into the flames, or the monsters reach the rescuers, you loose, and the person is evicted. But, if you can force the monsters back into their cage, you win, and the person is safe.

"Serge and Leena; as the first two be placed in danger of eviction this round, one of you will go first. Who will it be?"

The two of them looked at each other.

"What do you think?" Leena asked.

"I don't know. Does it matter to you?"

"Well... Not really..."

"I'll go first, then." He actually would have preferred she go first, as he didn't intend on staying in the game if she left, and this challenge would be rendered pointless; but it just seemed unchivalrous to have her go first into "danger"...

He started to walk towards Bekkler and the flames, when a rope came down from the ceiling, wrapped around him, and carried him to above the left-hand flame. He looked a little surprised, but didn't say anything.

Bekkler instructed, "All right. Kid, Robo, Lucca. Assume your positions. Leena and Korcha, please stand to the side."

They did so, and Bekkler released the Poyozos.

Kid, not being a perfect shot, took the left-most position, and the responsibility of pressing the button when necessary. Robo took the middle, so he could step over to Kid's spot occasionally if her Poyozo got too close. Meanwhile, unable to walk in her mermaid costume, Lucca took the far right, and focused on the right-most Poyozo.

Before long, Lucca had driven her Poyozo off. It took a bit longer, but without much trouble, Robo and Kid drove the other two off, as well.

"Guess it's hard to loose this game when there's three of us working together," Kid commented.

"Serge stays in the game!" Bekkler announced. He was lowered to the floor, and the rope unwound from him. "Leena, are you ready to take your turn?"

"Of course," she said with a nod. She walked over to the rope, and stood there patiently while it wrapped itself around her.

While the rope carried Leena over to the flame, Bekkler said, "Kid, since Leena chose not to do the dare to recruit you, would you stand over with Serge and Korcha?"

She nodded, and walked over to join them.

Bekkler released the Poyozos again. Robo and Lucca had a tougher time without Kid – Robo had to handle two Poyozos and the button. (Or one and a half, anyway – Lucca was a good enough aim that she could throw rocks at the middle Poyozo from the right hand position, but not as fast as she could with the right hand one.) Still, they managed it.

Serge was released, and Korcha was lifted over the flame.

"Now, for the round's final Eviction Challenge. Kid and Lucca must try to rescue Korcha!"

Once again, Lucca took the right hand position, and helped with the middle Poyozo. Kid, however, had a hard time handling the one "and a half" Poyozo, and the button. Once or twice, Korcha had to call out for help, to remind her to push the button; and the left and middle Poyozo were slowly getting closer...

"Cha, I'm getting cha little hot, here!" Korcha pointed out, yet again.

Kid ran over to the button, tossing stones at the Poyozos along the way. (She hit the middle one, but missed the left hand one.) While Kid hit the button, Lucca (the right hand Poyozo being a good distance away) tossed stones at the middle and even left Poyozos. Both backed off a bit, giving Kid the time to run back over and pick up a couple more stones.

"Kid, hurry!" Lucca said. Kid looked up to see that the left hand Poyozo was almost upon her. She tossed both stones at it. But it didn't back off. With a roar, it pounced on her. The other two charged forward as well, heedless of Lucca's stones, pouncing on her as well.

Bekkler said, "Sorry... Once one of them closes in on its prey, stones don't scare any of them anymore. Luckily, they're trained not to injure."

Meanwhile, with Kid unable to hit the button, Korcha was lowered into the flame. There was a puff of smoke, then he was released onto the floor.

Bekkler snapped his fingers, and the Poyozos let Kid and Lucca go. "It looks like we have our second evictee. Korcha, if you'll bring me your torch – er, I mean, grab your luggage – it's time for you to go."

Kid walked up to Korcha, who was finishing dusting himself off.

"I'm sorry... I tried ta save ya, but..."

"Cha..." He waved his hand dismissively. "It's okay. I would have liked to stay, but I already got to see a couple of girls naked, so I'm happy."

"What?!" She punched him hard in the chest, sending him to the floor. "Ya pervert!"

Before he had gotten his wind back, let alone gotten back up, she knelt down next to him. "Oh, one other thing. You don't deserve this, but..." She leaned over and kissed him on the lips.

She lingered a few moments, then broke it off, stood up, and without a word, walked back into the Funhouse.

Leena commented, "What a strange pair..."

Lucca crawled over to Korcha, and saw that he was breathing steadily now – he still seemed in shock, though.

Bekkler said, "Well, since we had an eviction this round, the number of potential evictees will be at three again next time, instead of increasing to four. But first, of course, we have a couple more challenges, and the Bonus Dare. ...So, I'll see you all tomorrow!" And with a cackle, he disappeared into the shadows of the ceiling.

After Korcha had recovered and gotten up, Serge, Leena, and Lucca said goodbye to him. Then, he headed out, and they headed back to the Red and Gray rooms...

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_**Korcha: Epilog:**_

_...Some time later..._

Korcha sighed happily as his boat reached Guldove. He still wished he'd been able to stay longer, but it had been fun. Like he'd told Kid, seeing the girls... But even more so, the time he'd spent with Kid. Sure, most of the time she'd acted like she hated him, but there were hints every now and then that she was at least a little interested. And of course, there was that kiss... He knew better than to take this as a sign; but it definitely left open the possibility that she liked him. A more definite answer would have been nice, but for now, this was good enough.

When his boat reached the dock, he found Mel waiting for him. "I'm surprised cha came back! You're in for it now!"

Korcha gulped.

After tying the boat up, he rushed to his house. His mother was overjoyed to see him. However, after she'd released him from her bear-hug, the questions began.

"Alright, boy, where were cha?!" She slapped her large wooden spoon in her palm for emphasis.

"Cha..." He handed her a copy of the ad for the Funhouse.

She read it silently. "Cha joined this game?"

He nodded.

"For this, cha snuck out without telling anyone?! I'm afraid I have no choice but cha ground cha!"

As she herded him into his room, she said, "Really, cha could have told me. I would'cha let cha go – Cha, I'd have gone with you! Sounds like a fun game!"

_That's just why I didn't tell cha_, Korcha thought to himself...

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Next Time on the Funhouse: Serge in a cast! Leena in handcuffs! And both must roleplay successfully, on top of that, or they could still be evicted! ...And later, the players finally learn why the Funhouse has a dungeon! All in the next exiting episode of The Funhouse! Coming this summer to a website near you...


	20. Episode Sixteen

In a flash of blue light, Chronos the Cat appears, holding a story. "And now, the summer 2005 edition of the Funhouse!" ...He pauses a moment, then asks sheepishly, "This isn't summer, or 2005, is it? Dang it, my time machine's getting as unreliable as the Tardis!"

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Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

By Chronos the Cat

Episode Sixteen  
Round 4, Part III

Previously: The Red team, minus Robo, began wearing Cyborg Cowboy Merman and Cyborg Cowgirl Mermaid costumes... Later, the teams competed in Strip Trivia, which Robo won. Having refused to even watch, let alone participate, Serge and Leena were put at risk of eviction, but it turned out to be Korcha who was evicted. Now Serge and Leena must perform the extra dares they agreed to...

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-Character Scoreboard-

_Red Team_ (Team points: 24):  
Team Prizes: Cafeteria, Library

***Crono:  
**Clothing: Cyber Cowboy Merman costume  
Points: 18

***Lucca**:  
Clothing: Cyber Cowgirl Mermaid costume  
Conditions: latex on face (~), clay mud in hair (~)  
Points: 17

***Robo**:  
Clothing Note: Has Kid's left boot, but doesn't wear it.  
Conditions: Head, right foot plastic  
Points: 78

**(Robo Doll)**:  
Conditions: Head, right foot, right arm plastic; covered in latex; left & right short leg casts; leather tassels in "shirt" position

***Ayla**:  
Clothing: Cyber Cowgirl Mermaid costume  
Points: 24

***Serge**:  
Clothing: Cyber Cowboy Merman costume  
Conditions: right short leg cast. Roleplay: Frog (24 hrs). Fluff on palms (24hrs).  
Points: 7

***Leena**:  
Clothing: Cyber Cowgirl Mermaid costume  
Conditions: handcuffed. Roleplay: talk in rhymes (24 hrs)  
Points: 6

.

_Gray Team_ (team points: 0):  
Team Prizes: Yard, Hot Tub

***Frog**:  
Points: 13

***Marle**:  
Clothing: snake-woman costume with bikini top  
Condition: right arm turned to stone.  
Points: 22

***Kid  
**Clothing notes: Left boot traded to Robo. Isn't bothering to wear right boot.  
Points: 6

***Harle**:  
Conditions: act as if had amnesia (until next bonus)  
Points: 66

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

**Day 15 Continued**

Serge was sitting on a chair, all of his cyber cowboy merman costume on again except the tail. At Anar's request, he extended his right leg. Anar pulled a tube of white cloth (stockinette, though Anar failed to explain that) up Serge's leg, to the knee.

Anar then got out some cotton padding. "Put you foot in whatever position you want it to be in. Since you'll need to wear your tail over it, I'm thinking you'll want it extended, but it's up to you..."

Serge thought about it a moment, and decided he agreed with him. He extended his foot so the top of it formed a continuous straight line with his leg, and Anar began wrapping the padding around it, paying special attention to his ankle.

Anar then took out some off-white fiberglass bandages, dipped them in water, and began wrapping that over the padding. He acted with such confidence, Serge figured he must have had practice.

When Anar was satisfied with the thickness of it, he took the ends of the stockinette, and folded them over the ends of the cast, revealing Serge's knee and toes. One last layer held this in place, then Anar stood back. "It'll take a few minutes for that to finish drying. In the mean time, I'm going to clean up, and get the fluff for your hands. You can rest your foot on the floor if you have to, but it'd be better if you don't – if the cast gets bent out of shape, it could become too uncomfortable to wear for very long."

Serge nodded, and did his best to hold up the cast while Anar went about his business.

o-o-o-o

...Meanwhile, Marian had presented Leena with several different pairs of handcuffs to choose from.

"We have the classic metal handcuffs here... Then there are these padded ones – equally restraining, but far more comfortable... And finally, these new, stock-like cuffs. As you notice, with no chain between them, and the main parts of each 'cuff' fused together, movement is far more restricted than in classic style."

"Gee, I don't know which to choose!" With Marian the only one around, she didn't have to hide her excitement. The more helpless she became, the more attention Serge paid her, so the guilt and confusion she had initially felt about possibly enjoying this sort of thing had long been forgotten. Her only problem now was hiding it from the others, who wouldn't understand. Marian, however, not only seemed to understand fully, but loved having someone who didn't balk at some of the more outrageous dares.

Marian smiled conspiratorially. "It is tough to decide, isn't it? Style, comfort, or restrictiveness?"

Leena nodded. "Of course, I don't really need the padded ones if I'm wearing them over my cyborg costume – but, how exactly are we going to put **any** of them over these? Or do I have to choose new cyborg parts?" Leena held up her hands, already back in their plastic "cyborg parts", as she was back in costume.

"Well, we could do that... or we could punch a hole in the plastic to allow the chain through..."

"I suppose we'd have to get new parts if I were to go with the stock-style ones..."

"Yes, we would."

"Right. Then I guess I'll go with the padded ones, and we can put them on under my costume parts."

o-o-o-o

...Back in the part of the Supply Room where Serge and Anar were, Anar was slathering large gobs of marshmallow fluff on Serge's palms. (Anar had at first wanted Serge to stick his hands in the container and pull out the fluff himself; but Serge had pointed out his dare was only to have it on his palms, not his entire hands.)

When he was done with that, he checked to see if the cast was dry. "Okay, you're good to go..."

Serge put his foot down, and experimentally tried to move his ankle. He could feel the resistance from the fiberglass, but no real movement. Even the padding inside didn't give any, as it had already been compressed when Anar put the fiberglass on.

As Anar started to walk away, Serge asked, "Could you help me get my merman tail on?"

Anar gave a unconcerned smile. "Yeah, I could, but why should I?"

"I can't do it without using my hands, and if I do that, I'll get fluff all over the tail."

Anar shrugged. "Not my concern. If you want though, I can leave the fluff out so you can reapply it if too much comes off."

Serge glared at him, and Anar laughed.

"Tell you what – I'll let Marian and your girlfriend know you need help. Maybe one of them will take pity on you." Anar tossed the container of fluff at Serge's feet, and walked off.

o-o-o-o

...When Anar found the girls, Marian had already closed the right forearm piece of Leena's costume over the padded handcuff, making sure the chain lined up with the hole she'd drilled where the seam crossed the wrist.

Leena felt an exited tightening in her chest – it had given her shivers when the cuffs had snapped shut around her wrists, and now her helplessness was being further increased, as her "cyborg arms" prevented her from bending her wrists or using all of her fingers. She was a little disappointed though that she had needed to have her arms chained together in-front of her. Having her arms chained behind her would have been far more restrictive, but it also would have made it impossible for her to pull herself along on the ground.

"Lookin' good," Anar commented with his usual lecherous grin.

Leena blushed to have someone intrude on her dreaming – especially someone like Anar.

Even as she lined up the handcuff chain to go in the hole in Leena's left forearm piece, Marian asked, "What brings you here? Even for you, this can't be all that interesting to watch."

"Well, Serge was having some trouble getting his merman tail on, so I figured I'd see if either of you two wanted to volunteer to help him out."

Marian smiled, as she snapped the left forearm piece closed over Leena's arm. "I'm sure Leena would love to help out."

Leena looked at her incredulously. "Like this...?!" She had had little enough use of her hands before, and now she couldn't even move them apart more than a foot.

Marian gave her a grin that could hardly be described as anything other than "evil". She turned and began walking in the direction Anar had came from. "Let's go."

Leena stared at her, ignoring Anar (who was smiling back at Leena). Slowly, though, a grin began to form on Leena's face. Of course, they were just teasing her – but actually, playing along sounded kind of fun.

... Marian led Leena to the place where Serge was putting on his tail. When they arrived, he had the tail up his legs, but was having difficulty pulling it up the last bit using only the ends of his fingers. He had also gotten a few spots of fluff on the tail, where he had grasped it.

Serge stared a bit - he was surprised Leena still had the restrictive plastic "hand" pieces...

"What do you think?" Leena asked happily, showing off the chain between her arms.

"Er... Nice..." Serge said uncertainly. She certainly was getting into this!

"So, need any help there?"

"Yeah... but I don't think you could help much..."

"Oh, I don't know. I might be able to help a little..." She turned to Marian. "Could we have a little privacy?"

Marian said, "Of course," though Leena was sure she was disappointed.

As Marian stepped out, Serge said, "She could have helped me more than you."

"She wasn't going to help, she just wanted to watch." Leena crawled over to Serge (unable to move her arms separately very far, she moved much like an inch-worm). When she was right in front of him, she said, "I'll pull it up in front, you handle in back."

"Uh, okay..."

Carefully, she grasped the top edge of the tail in her teeth, and began to pull it up. Serge grasped the edge in back, and pulled as well, while wiggling his legs to push them in further.

Leena rubbed her nose against his crotch, and Serge said blushing, "That isn't helping it to fit."

...With a bit of effort, they got the tail all the way up, and zipped. Serge then replaced the fluff that had rubbed off his palms, and they headed out.

o-o-o-o

...When they got to the Red Room, they found Marle, Lucca, and Kid there, chatting (though Marle and Lucca were doing most of the talking). Crono was busy reading some comic books, while Robo was just standing around.

Marle was curious about their dares, though it seemed no one else was.

"It's great how you kept your costume like that, Leena. Most people would hate being that handicapped, but I guess you've really gotten into the Funhouse spirit, huh?"

Leena shrugged. "Yeah, I guess..."

Serge raised an eyebrow, and in his best "Frog" voice, said, "Milady, I thought you were supposed to speaketh in rhymes...?"

Leena's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah... um..." She thought hard, and finally came up with, "I had forgotten, I must confess."

o-o-o-o

The girls chatted for a while longer, though Leena had a hard time joining in, as she always had to find a way to rhyme what she said. At first, the topic was Kid's kissing Korcha (she said she'd felt sorry for him, that was all – though the others continued to give her a hard time), then they switched to boys in general. Serge spent the time reading up on chivalry and Frog's era (though he had to be careful not to get fluff on the books). Meanwhile, Frog and Ayla did some sparring, and Harle sat in the yard, staring up at the overcast sky.

Later, Marle and Kid headed back to the Grey Room, and Lucca went back to a book on advanced mathematics she was studying. Serge and Leena went back to the book they were reading together, Serge now saying it was the chivalrous thing to do to help her. (He had to hope the library didn't mind fluff on their book...)

Meanwhile, Frog went to keep Harle company, and Ayla returned to the library to continue her reading lessons.

And in the Gray Room, Marle confronted Kid. "Okay, how long are you going to deny your feelings for Korcha?"

"Marle, I told you, I don't have any. He's an annoying little pervert. Stop trying to play matchmaker!"

"Then why did you tease him so much? If you really wanted to get him to leave you alone, you shouldn't have led him on like that."

"Look, he's not even here any more, so it doesn't matter. Just drop it, 'kay?"

Marle paused for a moment. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get you upset. I just don't think hiding your feelings is going to get you anywhere."

Kid looked a her a while, her anger subsiding. Finally, in a quiet voice, she said, "No, it won't. But that's my decision to make."

o-o-o-o

..._Later..._

Mealtime was the same as always for the Red Team, except that Serge had to be more careful, thanks to the fluff on his hands. As for the Gray Team, they found that the table seemed a bit empty.

After looking around a bit, Marle said, "Gee, I just realized, you're the only guy left on the team, Frog. I hope that doesn't make you feel out of place."

"Nay, lass, no more so than ever. Truly, this team is so diverse, such a difference as gender is but a minor thing."

o-o-o-o

...When time came for bed, Leena needed more help than usual – first her arm pieces need to come off, then her handcuffs needed to be unlocked, before her vest and shirt would come off... (And then, when her clothes had been changed, she needed the handcuffs and arm pieces put back on.)

o-o-o-o

...In the Gray Room, Marle caught Kid staring at Korcha's bunk.

Marle commented, "It just isn't the same without him, huh?"

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

**Funhouse Day 16**

In the morning, Marle was talking with Frog, when he commented that Harle seemed to be lonely. Realizing that Kid was feeling the same way, and that both were likely to mope about on their own if given the chance, Marle decided the team should do something together today.

"Why don't we all go out to the yard today? We can do some swimming and sunbathing, and just have fun as a team."

Neither of the other two girls were particularly enthused about the idea, and even Frog had hoped to do some sparring, but Marle stubbornly refused to give up the idea, and eventually, everyone else gave up.

However, it turned out to be another cold, overcast day.

"Change in plans. Let's all go use the hot tub."

And so, for the first time since right after they'd gotten the right to use it, the entire team headed over to the hot-tub room.

"Ah, this feels good. I should use this more often," Kid commented, as she relaxed in the hot water, now down to only her bikini.

Harle agreed. "Indeed, it is most pleasant."

Kid glanced at her, then looked away.

Marle (who was still in her naga-ette costume) commented, "You know, sometimes it amazes me how much you two are alike."

"Who?" Kid asked, not believing what she thought Marle meant.

"You and Harle."

"What are you talking about?! We're not alike at all!"

"Sure you are. You're both good fighters but don't like to fight, you both like a lot of time to yourselves, and you both hide your emotions most of the time... And come to think of it, you both like to tease guys..."

Kid thought about that, and looked over at Harle. "I guess, now that ya' mention it, we do have some similarities..."

Frog pointed out, "They also each have a link to an ancient civilization that is now lost..."

Harle now spoke up. "Mademoiselle Kid, I 'ave noticed zat you seem to dislike me. I can not recall 'aving done anyt'ing to offend you, zough admittedly my memory does not go back very far zese days. Perhaps you could enlighten me?"

"You've done plenty to offend me. For starters..." Kid paused. She sat there, thinking for a while. Finally, she continued, "Actually, there's really only one thing you've done I can't forgive – you helped Lynx burn down Lucca's orphanage. You helped kill her."

Marle shuddered to hear of the death of her friend, and Frog looked uncomfortable.

Harle stared back at Kid, her expression unreadable. "I see." She thought for a moment, then said, apologetically, "I am afraid zat being unable to remember zat at zee moment, zere is little I can do now but offer my apologies. However, when my memories return, perhaps we should talk of zis further, yes? There may be more to zee story zan you know."

Kid scowled. "I already told ya', I can't forgive what ya' did. But, if ya' want ta' talk, then sure, we can talk."

Marle stretched and said, "Okay... Maybe we should move on to a more cheerful subject?"

"Like what?" Kid asked.

"I don't know."

Frog said, "Actually, ladies, I would like to simply enjoy the water. If thee will excuse me?" And with that, he ducked under the water.

Marle giggled. "He's such a... a frog!"

Harle watched in fascination as Frog floated near their legs. Kid however, pushed herself back a bit, finding Frog's proximity more intimate than she liked.

Marle got a mischievous look on her face, and darted out her "tail" to tickle him.

Several bubbles escaped Frog's nose, and he rose to the surface. "Milady, a surprise attack such as that is most dishonorable."

"Oh? How about one you can see coming?" She reached out, and attempted to tickle him under his armpits. However, he ducked under the water again, grabbed her "tail", and began tickling her feet.

As Marle laughed and tried to tickle him back, Harle smiled, and darted her own feet out to tickle Frog.

Kid started to get out, to avoid getting caught up in the game, but she didn't act fast enough. Seeing Kid getting up, Marle quickly grabbed her, and started tickling her in the belly.

...Before long, things devolved into a free-for-all tickle-fest...

...The four of them were still giggling when, dried off and dressed again, they made their way back to the Gray Room.

o-o-o-o

...Meanwhile...

For probably the sixth or seventh time since the Red Team had gotten the "Cyborg Cowboy Mereperson Costume" dare, Ayla complained, "Ayla still think Team should practice fighting even when wearing fish-tails!" Hoping a few new points might sway them, she added, "Is good to know what to do when need to fight and no can move right. Is bad to spend long time no move much."

Lucca moved her hand to her face as if to adjust her glasses, forgetting that she was wearing her cyborg mask, which was secured well enough it rarely needed adjusting. After touching the mask, she put her hand down and forced herself to keep from fiddling with her hands as she said, "In other words, we need the exercise."

Serge added, "Lady Ayla doth also have a point regarding knowing how to fight when restrained..."

Leena wanted to say that she didn't like fighting even under normal circumstances, and that she wasn't sure it was possible for her to fight while restrained as she was, but while she was trying to figure out how to phrase it in a rhyme, the conversation continued without her.

Robo acknowledged, "Mistress Ayla does raise some valid points..."

Crono shrugged and nodded. Sparring or training wouldn't be as fun while stuck in a mereman costume tail, but it would probably be more fun than sitting around doing nothing.

Lucca said, "I'd still rather spend time reading. They have some fascinating books here that I haven't been able to find in Guardia..."

Serge pointed out, "How do...st thee intend to maintain thy skills if thee... dost never practice?" One thing Radius had always stressed was that it wasn't enough to train to become strong and skilled, one must continue training to maintain that strength and skill.

Leena scowled at Serge. Why did he have to be arguing the opposite way she wanted to argue? Though she supposed having to act like Frog might have something to do with this particular argument – Frog was a warrior, after all.

Lucca sighed. "I suppose just because we aren't facing monsters left and right **now **doesn't mean we don't need to be ready for when we need to fight again..." She put her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "I wonder if **that's **why we were unable to prevent Porre from conquering Guardia – could we have gone soft from living in peace-time for too long?"

Crono frowned. He didn't think he would ever let something like that happen to him, but who knew what married life might bring? He could certainly see it happening to Lucca and Marle if they weren't careful – neither of them particularly enjoyed fighting, though Lucca did enjoy building and testing new types of guns.

Ayla said excitedly, "So, we go? We fight?"

"Wait!" Leena said, frustrated that she had yet to be able to get a word in. Everyone looked at her while she struggled for the right words; finally desperation gave her inspiration, and she said, "Fighting is something of which I don't approve; and how can I participate when I can barely move?"

Serge sighed. He didn't mind that Leena didn't like to fight (even though she made a point to know how), but from some of the earlier conversations that had came up for the Red Team, he suspected she wasn't just saying she didn't want to participate. In the past she had argued that those who weren't interested in fighting shouldn't bother training, and Serge figured she was planning on making the same argument again as soon as she could figure out how to put it into a rhyme.

Meanwhile, Ayla had decided to address Leena's question. "Leena have big hard arms now. Why not bash enemies with arms?"

Leena blinked at that suggestion; she hadn't thought of that option. She decided to focus on her first point. "I don't like to fight; hurting people isn't right."

Ayla scowled. "There always someone out there that want hurt someone else. Reptite, Mystic, monster, robot... or just not-nice person. Always someone. What Leena want do when someone want hurt Leena? Run away? Or wait for Serge rescue Leena?"

Leena winced. While the idea of being rescued was romantic, she didn't actually want to end up in a situation where she needed rescuing. That was why she had learned to fight in the first place. She just liked to think she was already strong enough to defend herself from anyone who might want to harm her. ...Unable to figure out a rhyme to say all this, she simply shook her head.

"Then come with Ayla! Learn defend self even when tied up!"

Leena wanted to argue that she didn't intend on being tied up in public, so it wasn't an issue. However, the best she could come up with to say out loud was, "I can already defend myself when free; why won't you let it be?"

"What if get caught by surprise? Might get tied up before have chance to fight," Ayla pointed out.

Serge decided now was as good a time as any to point out one of the problems he had with Leena's attitude towards training. "It is true y-thee art strong and skilled enough to deal with most of the common riff-raff who wouldst seek to take advantage of a seemingly helpless lady. However, there are evildoers out there far more formidable than a common drunk or pervert. Art thou so certain thee will never encounter such an adversary that thee sees no reason to increase thine skill?"

Leena sighed. While she had to admit Ayla and Serge had their points, she thought it pretty unlikely that something like one of them described would actually happen to her. However, she didn't think she was up to arguing her point successfully while restricted to speaking in rhymes. "Fine, I agree – but reluctantly."

o-o-o-o

It was quite the sight seeing five "cyborg cowboy mermen" and "cyborg cowgirl mermaids" crawling and hopping their way to the Dungeon, but as the Gray Team were all in the Hot Tub at the time, no one but Robo got to see it.

Once in the Dungeon the team got down to business with their training. Most of the group started by testing using their normal weapons from a kneeling position. Deciding it might be a good idea to be prepared for such a contingency himself, even Robo joined in this practice. Leena, however found that she couldn't get a proper grip on her frying pan with the claws of her costume arms; instead she followed Ayla's suggestion and practiced swinging her arms around like a pair of chained-together clubs. Meanwhile, Serge was keeping in character by using a spare broad-sword of Frog's.

After this warm up, they practiced sparring on their knees. While the kneeling position had only a minor effect on how one swung a sword (at least against a kneeling opponent) being unable to adjust their positions relative to one another through footwork was a significant handicap, making the sparring session quite unlike any the group had experienced before. Lucca's fighting was the least affected, as her fighting style had never depended heavily on footwork; Leena and Serge meanwhile were at a greater disadvantage than the others, as they were both fighting with new styles of weapons.

In addition to sparring on his knees, Robo also sparred with everyone while standing, so they could get used to fighting regular opponents while on their knees.

After this, Ayla insisted everyone should train without their weapons as well. However, since Ayla was still learning how to fight in a mermaid costume, she wasn't able to help the others with it as much as she had during the pre-costume training sessions.

Leena was surprised to discover that she found using her arms as blunt weapons rather fun. (Bashing things with her frying pan was kind of fun too, but not enough to look forward to, and not as much fun as this.) While there were still many things she'd prefer doing, she didn't think she'd argue the next time training was mentioned, assuming she still had these costume arms. She wondered if there were any weapons or armor that would allow her to fight like this for real.

Around Eleven, Piette showed up in the Dungeon to inform them, "I'm afraid you will need to vacate the Dungeon; it will not be open to Players for the next two hours."

Lucca realized two hours from now would be One, the time Lunch got over and Challenges often started. Lucca went to adjust her glasses, then realizing again that she wasn't wearing normal glasses settled for scratching her head through her clay-encrusted hair. "Does this have anything to do with the next Challenge?"

"That's not for me to say."

Lucca wasn't satisfied with this answer, but knew she wouldn't be able to get anything out of him.

The team made their way out of the Dungeon and back to the Red Room.

o-o-o-o

After lunch, Vicks stopped by the Red and Gray rooms to prepare the teams for the next challenge. In the Red Room he started by stating, "Serge and Leena, you may end your acting, and Serge may remove the fluff from his hands." He then took out six red jumpsuits, each with a numbered card on the left breast. "Everyone is to change out of their clothes (costume or otherwise) and into these. You may wear undergarments under the jumpsuit, and Lucca may wear her glasses, but none of you are to wear anything else. You may also not bring along any weapons or any other items with you.

"Dares not relating to clothing or costumes that last more than twenty-four hours remain in effect.

"We'll convene in a few minutes in the Dare Room to vote on Serge and Leena's acting, then we'll get to the Team Challenge."

The red team were glad to get out of their costumes, though Serge found that due to the unusual angle of his casted foot, he needed assistance to walk. Lucca suggested he ask the Supply Room for some crutches, but he decided to wait since the rest of the team was almost ready to head to the Dare Room; in the meantime Leena allowed him to lean on her.

Looking down at herself then around at the rest of the team, Lucca commented, "I'm surprised – normally, outfits like these would look quite silly. However, and I don't know if it's having all of us in them, or just the surrealism of the Funhouse, but we don't look so bad."

Leena added, "Well, most of us don't," eying Robo, who looked rather ridiculous with his bulky body covered in his just-barely-large-enough jumpsuit.

Lucca chuckled a bit. "Too bad Vicks didn't give us the option of going without clothing – for Robo's sake if no one else's."

Ayla tugged at her own jumpsuit. "Ayla wonder why wear this? Not warm enough to wear in snow, but warmer than Ayla like wearing inside..."

Robo commented, "These outfits are similar to the clothing worn by prisoners in the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries – though usually such outfits would be orange. Perhaps the theme of the upcoming challenge shall relate to that?"

As they headed out, Lucca said to Leena, "Too bad your handcuffs didn't count as clothing or part of your costume, huh?"

Leena looked down at her cuffed hands, and with a slight smile, shrugged. "I don't mind." She glanced over at Lucca. "And what about you? Are you wishing that latex mask you wear, or the clay in your hair counted for clothing?"

Lucca blinked. "Eh?" She paused a moment, then said, "Actually, I'd totally forgotten about that. I really only notice when I see myself in the mirror, anyway. I must look pretty ridiculous, though..."

Leena shrugged again. "No worse than the rest of us have from time to time."

...Meanwhile, Vicks gave the Gray Team a similar set of instructions, though tailored to their team. Instead of red jumpsuits, though, he handed out black and white striped shirts and pants, like old-fashioned prison outfits.

When the team was dressed in their new outfits, Marle (standing a bit unsteadily after so much time traveling on her knees) looked around at the four of them and giggled. "Wow, we look like a band of criminals."

Kid said dryly, "Trust me, criminals dress nothing like this."

"How would you know?"

Kid just stared at her for a moment. "Two words: Radical Dreamers."

Marle blinked for a moment, then said, "Oh, right."

Harle asked, "Excuse moi, but what do people who dream have to do with criminals?"

Marle rolled her eyes. "Never mind, Amnesia-girl. Let's just get going."

Frog held up his hand. "If we could hold but a moment, I have had an idea. Thus far, we have all voted on our own as to the acting dares... And most have passed with little trouble. However, many of these performances were not all that impressive."

Marle shrugged. "Yeah, I just hate the idea of kicking someone off, or getting them in trouble, just because they weren't a perfect actor."

Harle nodded. "I can not remember performing any of these 'acting dares', as you put it, but I would imagine it would be very difficult to maintain an act for a long time, no? We should give zee actors zee benefit of zee doubt."

Frog said, "I am not suggesting we seek perfection, but surely we have a duty to report truthfully when someone has not put much effort into a task they have promised to perform?"

Kid raised an eyebrow. "You sure you're not just annoyed with Serge's attempt to imitate you?"

Frog croaked. "Actually, I was thinking more of Leena – I noticed several instances of her failing to make a rhyme, and when she did attempt it, she often seemed not to put much effort into it."

Marle said, "Yeah, but I'd still feel bad kicking her out of the Funhouse for it."

"Do not forget, she would not be in this situation if she and Serge had chosen to participate in the challenge with the rest of us."

Kid said, "So they're more modest than us, and are a bit possessive about each other. I don't think that's any reason to punish them."

Marle nodded, but then Kid continued, "On the other hand, our team's down two people while they're still at full strength. We may be all be friends here for the most part, but that don't mean we should ignore the competition aspect of this game. And if all it takes to take down their numbers a bit is to be truthful about what we think of their acting skills, I say, let's go for it."

Marle's eyes widened, and she started to protest, "But-"

Harle interrupted her. "Although, as I said, I believe actors should be given zee benefit of zee doubt, zere is such a t'ing as giving zem too much leeway. If Leena has been as lax in her performance as Frog has said, perhaps she should be reminded zat being in a game is no excuse for not giving somet'ing your all. Besides, as Kid says, we need to think of zee good of our team – zee Red Team's numbers must be reduced."

Marle still looked very uncomfortable, so Kid told her, "Don't worry about it too much, Marl'. Frog's given us something to think about, but the voting's still private. Vote the way you feel, and we'll see how it goes, all right?"

Marle nodded uncertainly, and they headed out.

...At the Dare wheel, Bekkler greeted them.

Before they started the voting on Serge and Leena's performances, Serge asked if he could go get some crutches from the Supply Room.

"Normally I'd say yes, but you wouldn't be able to bring them with you into the Challenge anyway, so you might as well wait." Serge wasn't particularly disappointed; while he'd prefer to be able to walk without assistance, leaning on Leena was rather nice.

Bekkler now had everyone vote on Serge's performance. Although his "Frog Act" had been far from perfect, he had obviously put a bit of work into it, and it paid off now with a score of 8 out of 10.

However, with all of Gray Team but Marle voting against her, along with Robo (who could judge the accuracy of her rhymes far better than he could the subtleties of most acting) and Bekkler himself, Leena got a mere 5 out of 10.

"Well, Leena, it seems we have a tie. It looks like we'll need to call in Chronos to make a final decision on your dare. You'd better hope he votes in your favor - since that dare was payment for assistance in the Eviction Challenge, you would have had to leave the Funhouse if you fail it."

Leena stared at him in shock.

Bekkler snapped his fingers, and in a flash of blue light, Chronos the Cat appeared. He was wearing the same robe as the last time he had appeared, but his mane looked a bit tangled and his fur disheveled. For once, he wasn't sporting a grin - in fact, he looked a little bit annoyed.

Harle blinked. "Excuse moi, but are you aware you are nearly au naturale?"

Chronos glanced at Harle. Sounding a bit grumpy, he replied, "Yes, I'm aware of that fact."

Chronos turned to Leena. "So, Leena, about your dare. You're in luck - as I've mentioned before when it comes to roleplaying I mainly just want to see that you've tried, and I believe that you did." A trace of irritation starting to creep into his voice, he said, "So I vote in your favor, you succeed at the dare and stay in the Funhouse for now, and the overall course of history remains the same."

Several of the players blinked at Chronos' tone. Marle asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Sorry, my future self noticed that Bekkler had forgotten to include his own vote on the roleplaying dares today, and instead of ignoring it or telling the Bekkler of his time to say something about it, he just had to come back in time and saddle me with the task of correcting the problem. ...Woke me up from a good nap, too."

"Oh..."

Chronos yawned. "Well, I'm going back to sleep. Enjoy your challenge." He then vanished in another flash of blue light.

Silence filled the room for a few moments, before Bekkler put his hands together and said, "Well then, time for the next challenge! Everybody follow me!"

Instead of leading them to the Challenge room, Bekkler led them to the Dungeon. Vicks, Wedge, Piette, and Marian were there waiting for them.

Bekkler announced, "Today's Team Challenge is Prison Breakout! You may have noticed there are six cells at the back of the dungeon, three on each side of the hall. You'll all be placed in cells, one or two to a cell with each team on its' own side of the hall. At least one cell on each side has a way out hidden within it, and the prisoner or prisoners of at least one other cell on each side will be given an opportunity to escape at some point before noon tomorrow. We're going to ask you to refrain from attempting to escape for the next half hour; during that time keys to each team's cells will be hidden throughout the areas of the Funhouse accessible to that team...

"If one team manages to free all their members before noon tomorrow, that team wins. Otherwise, whichever team has freed the most of it's members by then will be considered the winner.

"If neither team manages to get all their members free before the end of the Challenge, the only reward the winning team will get will be the chance at a Group Bonus Dare. However, if one team does manage to get free, they get the Skeleton Key to the Funhouse! With it, you'll be able to enter any part of the Funhouse open to players. This means, all the rewards won by the other team will be open to you as well now, and you can even enter the other team's rooms without their permission! To qualify for this reward, all team members must not only escape from their cells, but gather together in the Dare Room.

"As for the penalty for loosing, if the winning team wins by freeing their entire team, any free members of the loosing team must return to their cells, and the entire loosing team must remain in their cells until noon.

"Any questions?"

Ayla asked, "If Red Team win, Red Team can go out in Yard?"

"Yep! And use the hot-tub. On the other hand, if the Gray team wins, they'll be able to eat meals at the cafeteria, and visit the library."

Ayla looked at her team members. "Ayla go crazy if not go outside soon. Team must win!"

Surprised by the intensity of Ayla's declaration, Lucca could only nod and say, "Uh... Right!"

Meanwhile, Kid whistled. "This is the biggest reward yet – I assume we all agree we have to win this one?"

Marle, Frog, and Harle nodded.

Marle said, "I am **so** ready to eat some real food again!"

Bekkler asked, "So, anyone care to back out of this challenge?" No one spoke up, so he continued, "All right then, let's get you all locked up!"

To Be Continued...

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Any one else notice I seem to have lost my inspiration for this story...? Still, I haven't given up on it – seeing as it's the longest story I've put online so far (not to mention the longest story I've ever written in detail), it holds a special place in my heart. There will undoubtedly be further ridiculously long delays, but I shall keep working on this as long as I'm able to write and it remains unfinished.

Oh, and "Someone Else" asked why there's been no prolonged nudity yet in this story. Good question. It's not that I'm afraid to write about it, I assure you! I do have a Challenge that would lead to that, but we haven't gotten to it yet. As for the dares, I choose the dares at random. (When I first started writing it, I'd shuffle a deck of cards to choose – hence the Joker, King, and Queen on the dare wheel. Later, I wrote a JavaScript "program" to choose the dares for me.) There's also the fact that there are often ways to get out of doing dares and challenges, and as I try to keep the characters "in character", they often choose to skip the dares and challenges that they don't like.

...Still, we should get there eventually. (And if not, don't despair - I may do a Tenchi or Sailor Moon Funhouse when and if I (ever) finish this, and I intend to get rid of a lot of "dead weight" dares when I do so – so the "remove clothing" dares should be a lot less outnumbered!)


	21. Episode Seventeen Part 1: It lives!

Author's Note: I knew this chapter would be delayed, but I had no idea it would be almost four and a half years before I finished it!

Actually, I didn't even start in on the chapter until spring of last year (2009). By that point it was hard to remember a lot of the details of the story, so I re-read it (a couple of times), taking notes along the way. Hopefully this was enough to prevent continuity errors.

I would like to mention that I've made some minor modifications to chapters 17-20 (Episodes 15 and 16) for the sake of consistent rules, clarification, and correcting some errors I noticed during my read-through. (None of these changes affected the outcome of any challenge or dare.) Also, I added a couple of scenes to chapter 20 (Episode 16) to give more examples of Leena and Serge performing their dares. These changes were posted on Jan 21st of this year (2010).

Finally, I should mention that after posting those changes, I noticed some errors in the points totals in the scoreboards of many chapters. The scoreboard in this chapter fixes those errors; I'll go back and fix the scoreboards in the earlier chapters later.

o-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-o

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

by Chronos the Cat

Episode 17, Chapter 1:  
Round 5, Part I

Previously: Serge got a short-leg-cast on his right ankle, and Leena had her "cyborg" costume arms joined by handcuffs. For 24 hours, Leena spoke in rhymes, while Serge had to act like Frog while having marshmallow fluff on his palms. Now, for their next Team Challenge, the teams are to be placed in the Funhouse Dungeon, and must find a way to escape!

-SCOREBOARD-

_**Red Team **__(Team points: 24):__**  
**_Team Prizes: Access to Cafeteria and Library  
Clothing: All team members (except Robo Doll) are wearing red prison-style jumpsuits.

***Crono:  
**Points: 18

***Lucca**:  
Points: 17  
Conditions: purple latex on face (~), clay mud in hair (~)

***Robo**:  
Points: 78  
Conditions: Head, right foot plastic

**(Robo Doll)**:  
Conditions: Head, right foot, right arm plastic; covered in purple latex; left & right purple short leg casts; leather tassels in "shirt" position

***Ayla**:  
Points: 24

***Serge**:  
Points: 7  
Conditions: right short leg cast.

***Leena**:  
Points: 6  
Conditions: handcuffed.

.

_**Gray Team **__(team points: 0):_  
Team Prizes: Access to Yard and Hot-Tub  
Clothing: All team members are wearing old-fashioned black-and-white striped prison outfits.

***Frog**:  
Points: 13

***Marle**:  
Points: 22  
Condition: right arm turned to stone.

***Kid**:**  
**Points: 6

***Harle**:  
Points: 66  
Conditions: act as if had amnesia (until next bonus)

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**Funhouse Day 16, Continued**

"Before we do anything else, I think we should make sure you complied with the instructions not to bring anything. My assistants here will give you a pat-down. I can assure you that Vicks, Wedge, and Piette will be completely professional; however if any of you girls would still prefer a woman to do it, we can have Marian pat you down instead."

Vicks started by patting down Crono, while Piette asked Lucca if she wanted him or Marian to pat her down, and Wedge patted down Frog. Lucca trusted Piette enough that she decided to just go with him. As Bekkler had promised, Piette was completely professional.

Not finding anything, Piette moved on to Robo, while Vicks asked Ayla who she would prefer to pat her down, and Wedge asked the same of Marle.

"Ayla think look like more fun if man pat Ayla," she commented.

Marle shrugged. "Either way."

Vicks and Wedge patted down the girls. Vicks then went on to Serge, while Piette gave Leena her option, and Wedge asked Kid who she's prefer.

Knowing Marian well enough to not trust her to be professional, Leena decided to go with Piette.

Kid, also aware of Marian's perverted tenancies, decided to go with Wedge.

Seeing that she was the last one to be searched, Harle volunteered to let Marian do it. Harle was a bit surprised when Marian spent more time than necessary patting down certain body parts, but after getting over that surprise merely smiled in amusement.

Bekkler spoke up again. "The next thing is to determine which cells each of you will occupy. We'll flip a coin." A gold coin appeared in his right hand. "Red Team, as you have the most Team Points, why don't you call it – if you guess correctly you can choose which side to take."

Crono, Lucca, Ayla, Robo, Leena, and Serge looked at each other. Crono shrugged, so Serge took the initiative. "Why don't we go with Tails?" When no one objected to that, he turned to Bekkler and told him, "Tails."

Bekkler flipped the coin into the air, then slapped it out of the air onto the back of his left hand. Lifting his right hand, he looked down and declared, "Heads." He showed the players the coin as it lay, then slipped the coin away.

Bekkler turned to the Gray Team. "Alright, Gray Team, the choice of which row of cells to take is yours. No matter which side you take you will have roughly the same chance of escaping. Which would you like?"

"Do we get to investigate the cells first ta see which we want?" Kid asked.

"No, sorry."

Marle said, "And I suppose you can't tell us the advantages and disadvantages of each side?"

"Can't do that either."

The four Gray Team members looked at each other. Marle shrugged and said, "Looks like we'll just have to guess."

Kid nodded. "I suppose so. Anyone want to do the honors?"

Harle bowed. "Allow moi." She stepped forward, and told Bekkler, "We will take ze left."

Bekkler nodded. "All right then. And that means Red Team will be on the right. Now we need to determine who goes in which cell." He produced two pouches, one colored red and one gray. "If you'll each take number from the bag of your team color..."

Having won the coin toss, the Gray Team went first.

Frog drew a one, Marle drew a three, Kid drew a two, and Harle drew a three.

The Red Team went next. Crono drew a two, Lucca a one, Robo a three, Ayla a one, Serge a two, and Leena drew a three.

Lucca shot a sour look at Ayala. "Great. Why do we keep getting paired together? ...I just hope this doesn't mean we have to sleep in the same bed again."

Leena, meanwhile, was disappointed she wouldn't get to share a cell with Serge.

Vicks, Wedge, and Piette led the players to their cells. Harle and Marle were taken to the front-most cell on the left, while Robo and Leena were taken to the front-most cell on the right. Kid got the middle cell on the left, while Serge and Crono got the middle cell on the right. Frog occupied the farthest cell on the left, next to the back wall of the dungeon hallway, while Lucca and Ayla got the cell across from him.

Each cell had a bench (large enough to lie on) chained to the wall opposite the door, a bed of hay (also large enough to lie on) across part of the floor, and a square grating about a foot-and-a-half wide in the center of the room over a deep pit. On the ceiling above the bench was another grate, this one apparently for ventilation; it was two feet long by one foot, running length-wise along the wall. The wall separating the cell from the hall was made of one-and-a-half inch thick iron bars spaced six inches apart, with the door made in the same style; the other walls were made of large gray stone bricks, as were the ceiling and floor.

After all the players had been put in their cells, and the doors closed and locked, Bekkler told them, "You may sleep anywhere you want, though the floor can get a bit cold, so I'd suggest the bench or the hay. If you need to relieve yourself, the hole in the floor leads to part of the sewer system, and there should be enough hay to use some to wipe yourselves and the rest to sleep in; just dispose of the dirty hay down the hole as well."

"You expect us to go to the bathroom where everyone else can see us?" Lucca protested. There were murmurs of agreement from everyone but Robo, Ayla, and Crono (the last of which may have just been because of his quiet nature).

Bekkler said, "Those of you who have cell-mates can have that person block the view for you. As for the rest of you, it should be possible to squat in such a manner that it's hard for anyone to see much. At any rate, from what I know of your personalities, you should be able to just ask the other players to look away."

Kid protested, "That don't change the fact that we won't have any real privacy. And this is the sort of thing almost everybody wants privacy for."

"The challenge proper hasn't started yet, so you can still back out. Otherwise, you'll just need to deal with it."

The players thought about this. Frog, Lucca, Kid, and Leena seriously considered backing out, but in the end decided that so long as no one actually saw anything it would be alright. (Also, they might be able to hold it until they got free.)

Leena turned in the direction of the cell next to hers, and called out, "Serge, I won't ask you to back out this time, but you better not look when any of the girls go!"

Serge shuddered, and said in a disgusted voice, "You don't have to worry about that. I'm not into that sort of thing."

Bekkler said, "Any other questions?"

Kid raised her hand. "If one of us had brought something with us to help our escape, and your assistants didn't find it when they searched us, would using it still be cheating?"

Bekkler scowled. "Yes, it would be."

"Ain't that kind of contrary to the spirit of the challenge? I mean if real prison guards miss something, of course a prisoner's gonna use it."

"Usually, prison guards are a bit more thorough. Unless you'd like to have your hair shaved and to be given a full-cavity strip search... If you managed to get something past **that**, then we might consider letting you use it in the challenge..."

Kid paled a little. "Er, no thanks. I'll just play the challenge the way you intended..."

Bekkler nodded. "Along similar lines, you're not allowed to use any Techs or Elements. Any other questions?" When no one spoke up, he continued, "Anyone wish to back out? No? Okay then, my assistants will hide the keys now. You're free to move around your cells and investigate them, but should you find a way out you're still not allowed to leave your cells until we tell you in half an hour. Wedge, Piette, you're on guard duty. Oh, and one last thing." He waved his hands, and a shadowy sphere filled with waves of purple light spread from the center of the room as he cried, "Lock All!"

The sphere expanded to cover all the players causing a tingling familiar to all those who had fought outside of El Nido, as their magic and special fighting techniques were temporarily sealed off. The sphere then contracted in on itself and disappeared.

"Good luck!" Bekkler said, then vanished. Vicks and Marian headed out.

Frog and Kid immediately set about exploring their cells.

Lucca sat down on the bench in her and Ayla's cell. "I suppose one of us can use the bench, and the other use the straw. ...Come to think of it, a straw bed is probably closer to what you're used to than the beds in the Red Room."

"In Ioka, Ayla sleep on furs, not dead grass." She shook her head. "No matter. We escape before night!" She walked over to the bars of the wall, and pulled on them. At first nothing happened, but when she really strained, the bars gave off a faint metallic screech, and some dust fell from where they were attached to the ceiling. "Bars strong," Ayla commented as she stepped back and caught her breath.

Wedge commented, "Those bars are designed to hold powerful monsters – or powerful contestants."

Lucca told Ayla, "When they said some of the cells had a way for us to escape, I don't think they meant for us to literally break out of the cells..."

Ayla shrugged. "No know if no try." She considered the barred wall and the door within it for a moment. "Lucca think door weaker?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Maybe, but let's make sure there isn't a hidden key in here first – if you damage the lock trying to force the door open, we won't be able to use a key to get out."

Ayla nodded and began looking around the cell.

Crono shuddered as he looked around his and Serge's cell. While the "furnishings" were different, and the cell was slightly smaller, it still reminded him of the cells in Guardia Castle. On the bright side, at least this time he'd only be there a day at most, and didn't have to worry about being executed at the end of that time.

Serge raised an eyebrow at Crono's shudder.

"Bad memories," Crono explained.

Crono went up to the door, and tried shaking it. He didn't expect to be able to break it, but was wondering if rattling it enough might annoy the guards enough to get them to come over to make him stop. However, this door didn't make much noise.

Serge investigated the grating in the center of the room, remembering that in Viper Manor he'd been able to enter one of the cells from the sewer below. This one was firmly screwed in place, though, and he couldn't manage to loosen the screws with his fingers.

Kid saw Serge's investigation, and decided she should try the grating in her room, in case it was different. Not wanting to give anyone else on the Red Team ideas, she waited until Lucca, Ayla, Leena, and Robo were all looking away. Like Serge, she was unable to unscrew the screws.

Frog wasn't watching when Serge tested his cell's floor grating, but while walking across his cell he noticed the floor grate shift under his weight. Examining it, he found that one of the screws was missing, and the one for the opposite corner was loose. Looking through the gate, he realized that there were grooves along one side of the pit that could be used as a ladder; also the air coming from down there smelled wet, but not particularly like a used sewer.

Frog worked at the remaining screws on the grate, finding that while they had been tight enough to mostly hold the grate in place, they weren't so tight he couldn't unscrew them. Once he had the screws removed, he tested to make sure he could lift the grate, then went over to the bench to wait for the half-hour to be over.

Seeing what Frog had been doing, Lucca tested the grating on her own cell's floor. "And here I thought giving us a drain instead of a toilet was just to be degrading." She frowned, as she found the screws too tight to turn with her fingernail. They were also recessed into the grate slightly, making it impossible to grasp them. "If only they'd let me bring my screwdriver with me..."

"Ayla try?"

Lucca wasn't sure what Ayla would be able to do – Lucca doubted Ayla had significantly stronger fingernails than her. Still, it wouldn't hurt to let her try. "If you want to..."

However, Ayla didn't try to remove the screws; instead she tried to rip the grate off the floor.

Lucca commented, "They made the bars too strong for you, do you really think they'd overlook the drain?" However, to her surprise, small cracks soon started to spread across the stone near the corners of the grate.

Ayla sat back, panting. "Ayla try again in little bit. Think was starting to come loose."

Leena gave her and Robo's cell a quick examination, but wasn't quite sure what she was looking for. While she sat down to think and wait, Robo continued examining the room, including pushing bricks to test if they might be loose.

Standing on the bench by the wall, Marle found she could just barely reach the ventilation grating. It didn't seem loose, so she moved over to the edge of the grating to see if she could loosen the screws with her fingers.

"What are you doing?" Harle asked.

"Once my friends and I were captured by this general who wanted to rule the world; we were placed in a cell in his flying fortress. We found a loose ventilation grill, and managed to escape into the ventilation system."

"I see." Harle got up on the bench beside her, and assisted her in trying to get the screws loose. However, they were too small and in too tightly to unscrew by hand.

Seeing what Marle and Harle were doing, Serge decided to investigate the ventilation grate in his and Crono's cell.

Robo also noticed Marle and Harle's investigations. He told Leena, "Marle's idea may have some merit." He started by examining the grating on the floor, but quickly discovered a problem. "Error. My fingers are not suited for manipulating such small objects. Perhaps you would like to attempt to remove these screws, Mistress Leena?"

"You want us to try escaping into the sewer?" Leena protested.

"Negative. I am too large to fit, only you would be able to escape in this manner."

"I have no intention of crawling through a sewer!"

"Acknowledged." Robo walked over to the bench, and looked up at the ventilation grill. "Would a ventilation shaft be a more acceptable means of escape?"

Leena thought about it. "It's probably filled with dust... but it would be better than a sewer. I suppose it would work."

"Once more it will have to be you who attempts to remove the screws; not only would I not be able to manipulate something so small, but I believe my weight is beyond the carrying capacity of the bench."

Leena stood up on the bench and tried unscrewing the grill, but the screws wouldn't budge.

Having seen what Crono and Serge were up to, as well as Leena's attempt at the ventilation grating, Kid decided she might as well try hers too. As with the drain grating she decided to try not to pass on ideas to members of the other team who hadn't thought of them yet; this time she only had to wait until Lucca and Ayla weren't looking. As with the floor grating, the screws wouldn't budge.

Crono and Serge were able to remove the ventilation grate in their room (causing a little bit of dust to fall down on them); they then sat down to wait for the half hour to end.

While Robo continued meticulously examining the bricks of the cell walls, Leena sat on the bench thinking, absentmindedly fiddling with her handcuffs. After a while, she asked, "You're supposed to be really strong, right Robo?"

"Affirmative."

"You don't suppose you could bend the bars to get us free?"

"Unlikely. My strength is roughly equivalent to that of Mistress Ayla, and from what we heard she was unable to bend the bars. I will attempt it, however."

Robo walked over to the bars of the cell wall, and tried pulling them apart. He also failed.

As Marle looked under the bench for a third time, she commented, "These cells are so small, with hardly anything in them. You'd think whatever they'd hidden here would be easy to find!"

"Ze floating head only said zat some of ze cells have ways out – perhaps ours is one without?"

"Maybe. Or maybe there's something so obvious we're overlooking it," Marle commented as she awkwardly crawled out from under the bench (awkward because of her petrified right arm).

Meanwhile, Ayla made another attempt at pulling the drain grating loose. The sound of stone cracking and metal straining could be heard before she had to pause to catch her breath again.

Serge was starting to get impatient to begin his escape, when Robo spoke up. "According to my internal clock, it has been exactly thirty minutes since Norstein Bekkler departed."

Wedge started to look at his watch, but it began beeping before he had finished the movement. "Okay, you're free to leave, if you have a way to get out of your cells. We're going to stay here in case there's some sort of emergency and you need to be released, but we're not going to do anything to stop you from coming and going."

Frog immediately pulled the grate from the hole in his cell, and climbed down the ladder into the darkness below.

Meanwhile, Crono lifted Serge up to the ventilation shaft. Looking in, Serge said, "There's room for a person to crawl around up here. The shaft goes right by the cell – how about I take the right, and you take the left?"

"Okay."

Serge pulled himself into the shaft along the south side of the cell. Once Serge was in, Crono jumped up and grabbed the north edge of the opening, and pulled himself up as well. The two started crawling through the ducts.

Frog found that below the drainage hole was a cylindrical stone tunnel running north-to-south under the left-hand set of cells. It was about five-feet in diameter, with clean water a bit over a foot high running through it from the north. The holes from each cell also had ladders, so Frog decided to see if he could help the rest of his team escape.

Back in the dungeon, Leena and Robo heard a clanging coming from the ventilation grill in their cell. Leena jumped in shock at the noise.

Looking up at the vent, Leena thought she saw movement there. "Is someone up there?" she asked nervously.

"Um, hi, Leena," Serge said just loud enough for Leena to hear, not wanting to announce his escaped to everyone, or to deafen himself by the echoes in the ventilation shaft. (The banging of his cast on the metal was bad enough.)

"Serge?" Leena shook her head in amazement. "I take it you got the ventilation duct in your room open?"

"Yeah. Have you tried yours?"

"Yes, I did. The screws wouldn't budge."

Serge sighed. "Well, hopefully this duct will lead out of the dungeon, and I can start looking for the key to your cell."

Leena nodded. "Yeah. Good luck."

Meanwhile, a similar clanging was heard in Lucca and Ayla's cell. The two looked up sharply.

"Who there?" Ayla asked.

"It's me," Crono said quietly.

Lucca exclaimed, "You crawled into the air ducts? Why didn't I think of that?" She climbed up onto the bench. "You're going to have to move so your weight isn't on the grill when I try to unscrew it."

Crono moved forward, and Lucca stood up on tip-toes to reach the screws. When they wouldn't budge, she resumed a normal stance, and called up to Crono, "No luck. We might be able to find another way out. In case we can't, or Leena and Robo can't find their own way out, you should go look for some keys."

"Okay." Lucca could hear Crono crawl away.

Reaching the top of the pit under Kid's cell, Frog found the grating securely in place. He croaked to get Kid's attention.

Kid walked over to the grating and saw Frog looking up at her from the grating on the floor. She crouched down and whispered, "What the bloody hell you doing down there?"

Frog croaked again. "The floor grating in my cell was loose, so I was able to climb down into the waterway below. I thought I would come suggest you try to remove this grating."

"Already tried that; mine wouldn't come loose."

"Unfortunate. I suppose we shall have to get thou free some other way. Marle and Harle's cell might still be like mine; I should make sure they hath investigated theirs."

"I suppose. You just better hope neither of them decides to take a dump while you're in their pit!"

Frog gave a disturbed croak. "I... hadn't considered that." He gulped. "I suppose I shall have to risk it. ...The chance of them needing to relieve themselves will grow over time, so I should hurry." He quickly started climbing down the ladder.

"Brave bloke," Kid commented.

Marle and Harle were just as startled by Frog's appearance as Kid had been, though they were more polite about it.

"How'd you get down there?" Marle wondered.

Frog explained about the drainage grate in his cell again.

Marle slapped her forehead with her left hand. "I knew there was something obvious I was overlooking."

Marle and Harle began trying to loosen the screws.

After a minute or so, Marle admitted, "Um, this isn't working. Harle?"

"I am 'aving no luck either."

Frog gave a sigh of a croak. "It appears I will need to find my way to the main portion of the Funhouse and see if I can find the keys to thine and Kid's cells."

Marle nodded. "That might be our best bet. Why don't you go do that?"

"Very well. I shall be as swift as possible." Frog climbed back down into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Ayla made a third attempt to pull the drain grating loose. This time, there was a loud crack, and it came up from the floor in her hands, stone clinging to the shafts of the screws in places.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "I really don't think that was supposed to come out." She debated calling one of Bekkler's assistants to find out if using the opening Ayla had just ripped was alright. However, while Lucca was debating, Ayala started climbing down into the hole.

"Come, Lucca! We escape!"

Lucca sighed, and climbed down after her.

o-o-o-o

Crawling through the ventilation shaft, Serge encountered a junction, with a passage going off to his left (east) meeting the straight passage he'd been following. Serge decided to continue straight.

Before long, he came to another ventilation grating. Looking through it, Serge saw that he was over the hallway outside the dungeon. Now, the question was, could he get down there? The screws were on the outside, and the bars of the grating too close together to reach through...

For the heck of it, Serge tried grabbing the grate and wiggling it to see if it would move at all. To his surprise, he discovered the grate to be only screwed in along one side (the one closest to him), and to be a relatively flimsy metal. With only a little effort, he was able to bend the grate outward until there was enough room for him to fit through.

Serge held onto the edge of the duct as he let himself hang down into the hall. He then let go, doing his best to land on his mobile foot without twisting it. He succeeded in this, but did stumble a bit.

Serge dusted himself off, and tried to decide where to go next. Seeing he was right next to the door to the Cafeteria, he figured he might as well look around for a key in there. However, when he tried the door, he found it locked. This wasn't too surprising, since it usually was locked, but it was annoying, as it meant he'd have to go back to the Red Room to get a set of the Red Team's everyday keys.

However, as he made his way down the hall, he was reminded of the fact that walking on a cast that had the foot extended so he could only walk on the toes of that foot was quite awkward and uncomfortable. He decided to head to the Resource Room to get some crutches first.

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, Crono's duct made a sharp left-hand turn (to the west). A ways after that, he found a three-way intersection, one branch heading off to the north while the duct he'd been following continued west. Crono turned north again.

Finally, Crono found another ventilation grate – however, this one was along the left (west) side of the duct, rather than the bottom. Looking out, Crono recognized the Challenge Room. Since the duct hadn't gone up or down at all, this grating was at the ceiling level for much of the Funhouse; for the Challenge Room this put it less than halfway up the wall.

Crono tested the grating, to see if he could move it somehow. Hearing the screws rattling loosely in their sockets, he shook and pushed the grating for a few moments, until the screws fell out. Crono let the grating fall to the floor, then climbed out and followed it down.

Crono glanced around the Challenge Room. The equipment for the Challenges was usually moved out of the room after it was no longer needed, so the room was rather empty. Even the pool was empty – they'd removed the slime from it and cleaned it after the second slime-pool Challenge, but hadn't bothered to refill it.

Crono wandered around the room, double-checking that there weren't any obvious places to hide a key there.

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, below the dungeon, Frog had climbed back down the pit under Marle and Harle's cell. From here, there was only two directions to go – downstream or upstream. Frog decided to head upstream.

In another part of the sewer, Lucca shivered and exclaimed, "Cold!" as her bare feet entered the water under the pit in her and Ayla's room. As she finished climbing down the ladder, and the water soaked the legs of her jumpsuit almost up to her knees, she tried to look on the bright side – the water didn't smell, and seemed more-or-less clean from what she could see in the dim light and what she could feel.

The tunnel Lucca and Ayla found themselves in was quite similar to the one Frog had found. As with the passage under the left-hand cells, there were ladders leading up the other two pits on this side.

Ayla looked up at the other pits. "Should Ayla go up, open way for others?"

Lucca shook her head. "Crono and Serge already got out of their cell. And while we might be able to get Leena out through the drain, Robo wouldn't fit. Besides, we should check and make sure these sewers lead somewhere. We haven't really escaped if this is a dead-end."

Ayla nodded. "Okay. We find out where underground stream go." She dashed off down the tunnel, soaking her sleeves as she went to all fours.

"Hey, wait for me!" Lucca said. She started to run after Ayla, but bumped her head on the edge of the pit where it entered the tunnel. Lucca muttered a curse under her breath and moved to the center of the tunnel to give herself more head-room. Even there she had to duck her head a little.

Ayala looked back as she ran, and noticed that she was leaving Lucca behind. She stopped and gestured impatiently for Lucca to follow, not bothering to stand from her crouch as she had already figured out she couldn't stand up completely in this tunnel. "Come!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Lucca called back, her voice filled with irritation. Keeping her head low, Lucca began jogging down the tunnel. As soon as Lucca neared Ayla, Ayla resumed running, making sure to stay at a pace Lucca could keep up with.

A minute or so later, Frog discovered that his tunnel was a branch off of a tunnel running north-west to south-east. He continued upstream, to the north-west.

Meanwhile, Ayla and Lucca came across a conjunction where another tunnel and stream of water emptied into theirs from the northwest. Glancing up the tunnel, Ayla speculated, "Lead to holes under other cells?"

Lucca was too busy holding her nose to worry about the layout of the sewers. "What is that smell?" she wondered. It wasn't human waste, but it did stink. It seemed to be coming from a set of pipes that emptied into the tunnel along the eastern wall. Nothing (except the smell) was coming out of the pipes at the moment, but there was dark stain underneath the pipe openings down to the waterline.

Ayla said absently, "Grease. Rotten plants. Rotten meat. Food we no eat must pass this way. Make sense – Kitchen that direction."

Lucca's eyes widened. The idea of being close to rotten food was a little nauseating, and she found herself edging away from the pipes. She made herself calm down by reminding herself that the running water had washed everything away already. Also, so long as they didn't have any open wounds or get the water in their faces, they weren't likely to get infected by any dangerous bacteria that might be in the water (well, unless it was unusually nasty, anyway...).

Ayla continued down the tunnel to the south, and Lucca reluctantly followed her.

o-o-o-o

Back in the Challenge Room, Crono had convinced himself there weren't any keys there. He headed out, into the main north-south hall of the Funhouse living area. Through the windows looking out over the yard, he saw Serge limping down the West-East hall towards the Supply Room.

Crono jogged down the hall to the Dare Room, then over to Serge. When Serge turned to look at him, Crono raised an eyebrow.

"I need crutches," Serge explained.

Crono's eyes widened, then he nodded. "Want help?"

Serge hesitated, then shrugged. Crono stepped up to Serge and let him lean on him as they finished the trek to the Resource Room.

o-o-o-o

Back in the sewers, Frog found a short shaft leading upwards, several feet wider than the pits in the dungeon and letting quite a bit of light down through a different style drainage grate. There was a ladder up this shaft, so Frog climbed up to see if he could exit the sewers here.

Reaching the grating, he discovered a multi-part valve that would allow the drain to be sealed off. Testing the grating itself, he found it unsecured. He lifted the grating and crawled out, to find himself in the empty pool of the Challenge Room.

Frog croaked and nodded to himself. He hopped over to the the edge of the pool and climbed out. He took a few minutes to search around the Challenge Room, then headed out to search other parts of the Funhouse for keys.

Meanwhile, Ayla and Lucca found the tunnel they'd been following turning to the west. Pipes emptied into the tunnel on either side of the tunnel as it made the corner, and from one of the pipes on the south-east wall came the unmistakable stench of human excrement.

"Just great," Lucca commented. "Now this really is a sewer."

Ayla assured her, "No worry. Water wash away."

"For now. But it's probably going to get worse as we go along." Lucca paused, then added, "You know, Bekkler and Chronos had to comply with all sorts of regulations to get approval from General Viper for the Funhouse. This strikes me as a bit more unsanitary than they could get away with having someone walking through unprotected. I suspect we weren't supposed to come down this way."

Ayla shrugged. "What Lucca want do?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "I think we should go back and try one of the tunnels the water is coming from. It's bound to be more sanitary there, and if anyone was supposed to come down into these sewers at all, we're more likely to find the way they were intended to go there."

"Ayla no like turning around when no know where going. Maybe go right way, then go wrong way? ...But if Lucca think know where going, Lucca lead."

Lucca gulped, realizing Ayla was handing over responsibility for finding their way out to her. "Um, right." After a pause, she turned, and said, "Let's go, then," and started leading Ayla back the way they'd came.

o-o-o-o

Up in the Dungeon, Robo had finished examining the bricks in the wall, and was now examining the bricks in the floor.

Leena was still sitting on the bench staring into space and playing with her handcuffs, though she'd ran out if ideas for how a they might get out of the cell short of someone finding the key to the cell and unlocking it. "This is boring," she commented.

"If you require something to do, you could assist me," Robo suggested.

"I guess that would be better than just sitting here. What do you want me to do?"

"I wish to examine the bricks under the hay. You could help me to move the hay. Additionally, as we do so we should examine the hay to make sure there is nothing hidden amongst it."

"Wow, that could take a while," Leena said as she got down on her knees to start sorting through the hay.

"Affirmative," Robo said as he knelt down and also began sorting through the hay.

Meanwhile, Kid was pacing her cell, wracking her brain for a way out of the cell that wasn't cheating. She wished they didn't consider using something you'd smuggled in cheating – getting out of her cell would be easy if she could use her lock-pick...

Looking up as she paced towards the bars of the cell, she noticed Robo and Leena moving the hay in their cell aside. _"That's right. There could be something hidden in or under the straw! Why didn't I think of that?_" Kid headed over to the hay in her cell, knelt down, and began digging through it.

The next cell over, Marle and Harle were supposedly brainstorming ways to get out of their cell, though the conversation had drifted to the downsides of growing up a princess and the frustrations of living "with amnesia". They were so caught up in their conversation that they didn't even notice what Leena and Robo were up to.

o-o-o-o

In the Resource Room, Marian greeted Crono and Serge cheerfully. "Well hello there, you two. You won't find any keys to the Dungeon cells in here, if that's what you're looking for."

Serge shook his head. "I was hoping to get a crutch or crutches to use until I go back to my merman costume."

"Oh! Alright then, follow me."

o-o-o-o

Out in the halls, Frog decided to continue his search in the Gray Room. He headed down there, and found Vicks waiting in the hall near the Red and Gray Room doors.

"You want to go in your apartment?" Vicks asked.

"Indeed," Frog said with a croak.

Vicks nodded. "We didn't want anybody going into the other team's apartment, so we locked them; since you guys weren't able to bring your apartment keys with you, I was left here to unlock the apartments for the first member of each team to arrive." He went over and unlocked the Gray Room door.

Frog nodded. "I thank thee."

Inside the Gray Room, Frog went over to where they kept the keys to the Gray Room, Yard, and Hot-Tub. Examining them, he found no new keys there. Taking a set, he began to poke around the apartment for any keys that didn't belong.

o-o-o-o

A couple of minutes later, Ayla and Lucca had reached the intersection they had been in before. Lucca hesitated, trying to decide which tunnel to take.

After a few moments Ayla said, "No take long. Ayla cold, wet, want to stand up."

"I am too, Ayla. And if you're more wet, it's because you insist on running on all fours."

"Would prefer Ayla bump head?"

Lucca rubbed her forehead where she had bumped it earlier, and sighed. Adjusting her glasses, she said, "I think you were right before - the tunnel on the left probably leads under the left hand cells... And it seemed like the grate Frog went down was supposed to open, so -"

"No need explain, just lead!" Ayla said.

Lucca glanced at Ayla, then nodded. "Okay." She headed down the left hand tunnel.

o-o-o-o

Back in the Resource Room, Marian had gotten out a pair of wooden crutches. She adjusted them for Serge's height, and showed him how to use them. After he'd demonstrated that he could crutch properly, she sent him and Crono on their way.

As Crono walked and Serge crutched down the hall towards the Dare Room, Serge asked, "So where do you think we should look for keys first?"

As they were passing by the door to the Yard just then, Crono walked over to it and demonstrated that it was locked. He then turned to Serge and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh. Right." Serge said, realizing they would need to stop by the Red Room for the keys to the Cafeteria and Library, as those too would be locked.

o-o-o-o

Ayla and Lucca hadn't gone far down the tunnel when they were stopped by a large grating made of thick metal bars like those of the cell doors, which blocked the tunnel.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "The only reason I can see to have this grating is to prevent Frog or whoever else would have wound up in his cell from going into the main sewer. This supports my hypothesis that the pit in Frog's cell was intended as an exit, but the one in ours was not."

"So, Ayla break, Ayla and Lucca go through?"

Lucca considered it for a moment, then said, "I suppose, if you can do it without too much trouble."

Lucca stepped aside as best she could in the cramped tunnel as Ayla made her way around Lucca. Ayla walked up to the grate and looked it over. She then grasped two of the bars, and pushed, causing it to rattle and creak a bit. She pulled, and the bars bent slightly, but not enough. She let go and stood back, considering the problem. Then, she nodded to herself.

Looking back, she told Lucca, "Stand back." Lucca backed up, and Ayla also stepped back a few paces. Ayla then rushed at the grate, jumping up and hitting it as close to the ceiling as she could manage without bumping her head. There was a loud snap, and the grate shifted as if on a vertical hinge, the top falling down in the direction of Ayla's momentum, while the bottom swung up.

Not wanting to wind up face-first in the water, Ayla jumped off the grate before it had came to a stop, landing on her feet and hands on the far side of the grate. The grate stopped moving shortly after Ayla landed, coming to rest in a near-horizontal position with the end Ayla had been on resting a foot or so lower than the other end. Ayla turned to Lucca and grinned. "Way open. Lucca come now?"

Lucca looked at the grate sceptically. With it still intact and wedged in the center of the tunnel, she would have to crawl over or under it. However, crawling under it would mean getting most or all of her jumpsuit soaking wet, and she was cold enough already with just her lower legs in the water.

Lucca walked up to the grate, and tried pushing down on the end of it. When it didn't budge, she decided to try climbing over it. She carefully climbed up onto the grate, but despite her caution she was still caught off guard when the grate suddenly shifted, causing her to fall off it and land on her rear in the water.

Ayla slapped her forehead.

_So much for staying dry_, Lucca thought to herself in disgust, as sitting down the water was up to her armpits. At Lucca's expression, Ayla began to giggle.

At first Ayla's reaction just made Lucca more upset, but then the absurdity of the situation struck her, and she couldn't help but break into a a wry grin.

Ayla walked back over to the grate and shifted it back into a mostly level position. "Ayla hold. Lucca crawl through?"

Lucca nodded. "Alright. Thanks." She considered climbing on top of the grate again – she was sure Ayla could handle the weight. However, Lucca was already soaked, so what was the point? Lucca crawled forward and under the grate.

It was a bit of a tight squeeze getting by Ayla on the other side, particularly since Ayla couldn't move too far to the side of the tunnel and maintain a good grip on the grate, and Lucca only had the lower half of the tunnel to move in. However they managed it, leaving Lucca once more in the lead.

Lucca stood up as much as she could in the tunnel, shivering a bit at the cool air on her soaked clothes. Ayla let go of the grate and followed behind Lucca as they headed up the tunnel. As she went, Lucca did her best to wring out the extra water from those parts of the jumpsuit that were above water.

o-o-o-o

"By ze way, I was wondering, do you know why it is zat monsieur Bekkler has no body?"

"Um, well, yesterday he mentioned something about a lab accident," Marle replied.

"You think he was talking about his body? I had though perhaps he was explaining why it had been raining all morning – zat was what I had been about to ask him when he interrupted moi. "

Marle giggled. "You always ask him why he doesn't have a body whenever he asks if we have any questions. I'm sure that's what he thought you were going to ask."

"I see." Harle put her hand to her chin. "I wonder what sort of accident could remove one's head from one's body but allow ze head to remain alive and even float around?"

Marle shrugged. "You got me."

Across the hall, Leena and Robo continued carefully sorting through their hay and putting it in a neat pile.

o-o-o-o

After a few minutes of looking around the Gray Room, Frog was satisfied none of the keys to the Dungeon cells were out in the open there. He decided that before he did a more thorough search of the apartment, he wanted to check out the Hot-Tub room or the Yard. However, it occurred to him that he didn't know if any of his teammates had gotten free yet, and that if anyone was free they should coordinate their efforts.

Frog headed out and down the hall towards the Dungeon, passing Serge and Crono in the hall. He nodded his head in greeting to them, but didn't stop to talk – they were in the middle of a competition against one another, after all.

While Frog approached the Dungeon, Serge and Crono reached the door to the Red Room. Vicks was still there, and unlocked the door for them. As they headed in, he headed off to see to other duties.

As they grabbed their set of room keys, Serge said, "Why don't we look around here first, then if no one else is free yet we can split up to check out the library and cafeteria?"

Crono nodded, and they set about searching the Red Room.

o-o-o-o

Lucca glanced at the three openings in the ceiling/wall leading up, and the ladders running up the walls of the shafts above those openings. "Looks like we were right. These have to be the pits under the Gray Team's cells."

"Lucca sure?" Ayla asked. She then suggested, "We go up, be sure."

"Hmm... You have a point." Lucca walked over to the third ladder. "This one ought to be Frog's, so we shouldn't have to worry about being spotted." _And we should be safe in other ways, _Lucca added to herself, wishing for a moment she had her helmet with her.

Lucca started climbing up the ladder. Ayla watched her go, deciding to not to follow her up since there probably wouldn't be any point to more than one of them climbing up there.

o-o-o-o

Kid was still sifting through the hay in her cell when she heard voices echoing up from the sewer below. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but she recognized the voices as belonging to Ayla and Lucca.

"_Those two are still wandering around in the sewers? We'll, I guess that's good for our team."_

Just then the door to the Dungeon opened, and Frog entered. Frog told Wedge and Piette, "I am here to converse with mine teammates. I assume that is allowed?"

"Of course," Piette said.

Glancing down at the key-chain hanging from Wedge's belt, Frog croaked and asked, "By the way, wouldst it be possible for me to challenge thee for those keys?"

"No. Players aren't allowed to fight the staff, even as part of a Challenge."

Frog croaked again. "I see. Very well then. In that case I shall go speak with mine companions."

The two guards nodded, and Frog headed further into the Dungeon.

"Frog!" Marle exclaimed as he drew closer. "You made it out of the sewers!"

Frog nodded. "Indeed."

Harle asked, "Have you returned with any keys?"

Frog shook his head. "Nay, I am afraid not."

Kid got up and stepped closer to the bars of her cell. "So why did ya come back?"

Frog croaked. "I merely wished to determine if any of thee hadst escaped since I made mine own escape."

"Fraid not," Kid said.

Meanwhile, Lucca reached the top of the pit under Frog's cell, and carefully poked her head out. The cell was empty, as she had expected, and across the hall she could see her and Ayla's cell with the ripped out floor-grating. To her surprise, down the hall she could hear Frog talking with the rest of his team.

"Well then," Frog said, "I suppose it would be prudent for me to return to my search for the keys to thine cells."

"Yeah, you probably should," Marle said. "We've been drawing a blank on how to get out of these cells."

Kid said, "We'll find you and let you know if any of us manage to get out without you."

Frog croaked. "Very well. I shall see thee later." He turned and headed out of the Dungeon, nodding to Wedge and Piette as he passed.

Figuring she'd heard all there was to hear, Lucca climbed back down the ladder of the pit.

As she put her feet back into the water, Lucca told Ayla, "I was right. This part of the sewer runs under the Gray Team cells, and this is the pit under Frog's cell. He must have gotten out of the sewer somehow, too – I heard him talking with the others."

Ayla nodded. "Good. We find way out Frog use, we get out."

"Right. Oh, it sounded like Kid, Marle, and Harle were all still trapped in their cells. So if we can get out of here and Crono and Serge can get out of the air ducts, we'll be ahead of the Gray Team – we only need the key to Leena and Robo's cell, but Frog has to find the keys to two cells!"

"Good. But Red Team still need hurry – Frog have more time search."

"You've got a point. Let's go." Lucca turned and led Ayla up the tunnel.

o-o-o-o

Crono put a cardboard box back on the shelf they stored the empty boxes for their box-stacking game. He stepped over to the refrigerator and began looking through it for a key.

Meanwhile, Serge rested his crutches up against the couch, and sat down on the right-hand cushion. He then lifted the central cushion to look under it. Finding nothing there, he put it back and slid onto it, then checked under the end cushions. Still finding nothing he got down on the floor and lifted the couch's skirting to look underneath the couch. Unfortunately, it was pretty dark under there, so all he could make out was a few lumps. Reaching his arm under the couch he felt the lumps; they turned out to be only dust-bunnies.

o-o-o-o

Frog unlocked the door to the Hot Tub room and stepped in, figuring it would be faster to search than the Yard. If the fact that he simply liked the hot tub quite a bit played a factor in his decision, he didn't admit it even to himself.

A quick look told him no keys were out in the open. He close the door behind him and double-checked that there wasn't a key behind the door. He looked down into the waters of the tub, but there was no key in there. (To his disappointment, there really wasn't a way one could be hidden in the tub in such a way one would have to get in to find it, meaning he had no excuse to jump in right now.) He began looking through the towels left there by the staff for them to dry off with.

o-o-o-o

"...and then there was my history teacher. He was a bit stuffy, and his lessons were always boring. Now I wish I'd paid more attention to him – knowing a bit more about history could have came in handy during some of my trips to the past."

Harle nodded. "I can imagine. Speaking of which, I was wondering, how iz it zat you first wound up traveling through time?"

"Well, it a few months ago... or twenty years ago I suppose. The Kingdom of Guardia was throwing its thousand-year anniversary party, the Millennial Fair. I was scheduled to visit the Fair with my father the final night, but I knew I wouldn't be able to play any of the games or do any shopping then. I tried to convince my father to let me visit the Fair before the closing night with the minimum amount of security and no fanfare, but he refused.

"I wasn't going to let that stop me, so I put together a disguise I thought I could blend in with the commoners with, and snuck out of the castle..."

Meanwhile, across the hall, Robo tapped a brick. "No anomalies detected." He looked up at Leena. "I have now tested all the bricks where the hay was."

"I guess we should move the hay back now?" Leena asked.

"We may. However, it will only be necessary to do so when and if you should wish to sleep on it. I have already checked the bricks where we put the hay."

"I might as well do it now. I don't have anything else to do."

"As you wish. I shall continue testing the remaining floor bricks."

As she began moving the hay back into it's original position, Leena sighed. "I hope the others are having more luck than we are."

"Crono and Master Serge have already made it out of their cell, and judging by what we could hear earlier and the fact that we have not heard anything from Lucca or Mistress Ayla in some time, I believe they have found a way out of their cell as well. So they have indeed had more luck than us"

"I suppose you're right," Leena conceded. "By the way, why is it you call some of us 'Master' or 'Mistress', but you never use a honorific for Marle, Lucca, or Crono?"

"Because they asked me not to," Robo replied matter-of-fact-ly.

"Oh," Leena said, said, surprised the answer was so simple.

Meanwhile, Kid finished her examination of her own hay. She decided not to worry about putting it back where it had been to begin with – even if she wound up sleeping in the cell tonight and decided to sleep on the hay, she didn't care what part of the floor the hay was on.

Watching Leena and Robo moving their hay back to it's original position, and listening to Marle and Harle chatting, it occurred to Kid that she had no idea if Marle and Harle had checked in their hay for any means of escape.

She walked over to the corner where the bars met the wall she shared with Marle and Harle. "Hey, you two."

"What is it, Kid?" Marle asked, breaking off her conversation.

"Did you girls think to check in the hay?"

Marle blinked. "In the hay?"

"You know, for a key, or lock pick, or hidden switch."

Marle's eyes widened. "Oh!" Sounding a little embarrassed, she admitted, "No, we didn't think of that." She turned to Harle and said, "Come on, we'd better check."

o-o-o-o

Lucca and Ayla looked around at the branch they had reached. The water was coming from the north-west, and at the point they had reached the tunnel split in two with the water continuing down both branches. One path continued to the south-east, while the tunnel they had just came from was to the south.

"That tunnel probably heads over to our team's cells," Lucca said, pointing to the south-east passage, "so that," she said pointing to the north-west, "is probably the direction we need to go in."

"Then, go," Ayla said.

"Alright already, I'm going!" Lucca said as she headed up the tunnel.

o-o-o-o

Frog pulled out another of the towels, not expecting this one to be any different from the others he'd already shaken open looking for keys. However, before he had a chance to do anything with the towel, he heard a "clink". Looking down, he saw a key resting on the floor. It was right next to the pile of towels he'd been grabbing from; he guessed it must have been between the towel he had just grabbed and the next one on the pile.

Frog put the towel down and grabbed the key. He glanced at the pile of unfolded towels on the floor, reluctant to leave them in such a messy state. He decided he couldn't take the time to clean up, though – he had to go see if this key would open one of the cells, and then get back to looking for keys.

He quickly left the room and hopped down the hall towards the Dungeon.

o-o-o-o

Serge had a thoughtful look on his face as he looked under the armchair. That lump didn't look like a dust bunny... He reached under the chair, and felt it. His eyes widened – it felt like a key. He grabbed it, pulled it out and looked at it – it was a key alright.

"I found one, Crono!"

o-o-o-o

Lucca looked up the shaft and through the opening at the ceiling some distance above.

"I think we might have finally found our way out." Not waiting for Ayla to tell her to hurry up again, Lucca began climbing.

Shortly Lucca and Ayla were standing in the pool of the Challenge Room. "Yes, at last!" Lucca said, pumping her fist in the air.

Ayla stretched. "Nice to stand! Now go, find keys!" She ran over to the side of the pool and jumped out.

"Wait!" Lucca said. As she ran to the ladder out of the pool and began climbing, she said loudly, hoping Ayla was still close enough to hear, "We've been down there quite a while! We should check if anyone else made it out yet!"

Ayla called back, "Okay, we look for friends, then find keys."

Lucca stepped up onto the floor of the Challenge Room and found Ayla standing not that far away, tapping her foot impatiently. Lucca nodded. "Right." She jogged over to Ayla, who launched herself into a four-legged dash to the door the moment Lucca reached her. Lucca switched to a run herself and followed after her.

o-o-o-o

Frog stepped into the Dungeon, and after nodding in greetings to Wedge and Piette, headed over to his teammates' cells.

Frog held up the key for them to see, and announced, "I have found a key."

"That's great!" Marle said. "Try it out!" In her happiness, she sounded a bit like a kid exited by someone else's present.

Frog croaked, and nodded. "Indeed." He stepped up to Marle and Harle's cell, and put the key in the keyhole of the door. He then tried to turn it, but it wouldn't turn. Frog frowned and pulled it back out.

"Darn, I guess that isn't the key to this cell, huh?" Marle said with a bit of disappointment.

"Apparently not," Frog commented. He walked over to Kid's cell and tried the key in its lock. This time, the key turned.

Kid's eyes widened as the door swung open. Then she smiled. "Well, I guess that's two cells down, one to go."

Marle grinned. "You got Kid out?"

Frog nodded to Marle as he stepped away from the door to let Kid out. "Yes."

Marle leaped into the air, both arms above her head. "Yay!"

Harle raised an eyebrow. "My, you certainly can get excited, can't you?"

Marle put her left hand in front of her face (her right arm not being flexible enough for that) as she blushed. "Yeah, I guess I can, a little bit. Sorry," She then giggled.

Kid rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Frog and I should go look for that last key."

Frog croaked and nodded.

Marle said. "Okay then. See you later, and good luck!"

As she walked by their cell, Kid said, "Don't just wait for us – keep looking in that cell for a way out."

"We're kind of out of ideas, but okay," Marle said uncertainly.

Kid frowned. "Well, you could at least finish looking in the hay."

"We did."

"What?" Kid scowled. "There's no way you did a thorough search that fast. Look again, and look harder!"

"Fine, fine," Marle said in resignation.

As Kid and Frog walked out, Harle said to Marle, "I am surprised you let her talk to you zat way. Afterall, you are ze princess and she is but a commonair."

"She's a friend!" Marle said. "Besides, she's a princess too."

Harle raised an eyebrow. "I find zat hard to believe. Why, she dresses and acts even less like royalty than you do."

"Well, actually, it's more like she's the reincarnation of a princess. It's complicated..."

Harle sat down by the hay pile and began moving the hay around as she looked through it. "I have ze time to hear ze story," Harle prompted.

"I thought you wanted to hear about how my friends and I started traveling through time." Marle said as she sat down.

"I wish to hear both stories."

"Well her story will probably make more sense after you hear mine, so I'll tell mine first. ...Where was I?"

"You were in ze mysterious forest, when ze soldiers showed up."

"Right. So, one of them stepped forward and said, 'Your majesty, thank goodness we've found you!'

"I figured they were a search party sent by my father, though I didn't understand why they were wearing that old fashioned armor. So I let them escort me out of the forest. But when we left the forest..."

o-o-o-o

Crono and Serge were just starting to make their way towards the Dare Room when they saw all the way down the hall beyond the Dare Room Ayla and Lucca exiting the Challenge Room.

Lucca and Ayla were running, while Serge was on crutches, so Lucca and Ayla reached the Dare Room first.

Lucca sat down on the edge of the Dare Wheel, and said as she caught her breath, "We... might as well... wait for them."

"Ayla go meet them," Ayla said, and rushed down the hall.

Lucca shook her head. "Where does she get all that energy?" While she waited for the others, she began pulling her wet jumpsuit away from her skin and trying to wring more water out of it.

Meanwhile, Ayla stopped a couple of yards in front of Crono and Serge. She looked Serge up and down for a moment then cocked her head. "Those 'crutches' Serge mention before?"

"Yeah. I need them because I can't really walk on my right leg with it in this cast."

Ayla shook her head and waved her hand in dismissive way. "Ayla figure out already. Use walking stick in Ioka too. Just not know called 'crutch' here."

"Oh."

Walking backwards in front of Crono and Serge as they continued forward, she asked, "Crono, Serge, find keys?"

"One," Serge answered.

"Good! Come, go to Dungeon, see if it one need!" She turned and scampered back to the Dare Wheel where Lucca was waiting for them.

Just then, Frog and Kid stepped out of the Dungeon. Seeing Lucca and Ayla at the Dare Wheel, Kid said, "Aw, crap. They made it out of the sewers."

Frog widened one eye in a manner similar to raising an eyebrow.

"They headed down there not long after you did – but last I knew they were still wandering around down there," Kid explained. "You have any idea if Serge and Crono are out of the duct work yet?"

Frog croaked and nodded. "Indeed, they are. I saw them in the halls earlier."

"Hell. That means all they have to do is find the right key and the challenge is over. We better get moving." Kid shifted into a run, and Frog began hopping quickly along beside her.

Lucca blinked to see Kid and Frog running down the hall towards her and Ayla.

As they neared the Dare Room, Kid asked, "So where have you looked?"

"I looked in the Challenge Room, but found nothing. I also found nothing in the Gray Room, but I did not search very thoroughly. I found the key to thy cell in the Hot Tub room."

"Alright then. So we need to check in the Yard, and check some more in the Gray Room. Since you know where you already looked, how about you go look around the Gray Room some more, while I check out the Yard?"

Frog croaked. "There is only one problem with that, my lady. The doors to both rooms are locked, and I only have one set of keys at the moment."

"Bloody hell. I'll go with you then and get my set of keys."

Frog and Kid ran into the Dare Room, turned the corner, and headed down the hall towards the Gray Room, a nod from Frog their only sign acknowledgment to Lucca and Ayla.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "They're sure in a rush."

Ayla shrugged. "Big Challenge. Biggest one yet."

"I suppose." Lucca turned to Ayla, who was finally wringing the water out of her clothes. "You know, I'm surprised you're waiting so patiently for Crono and Serge."

"Crono and Serge have key."

"Yeah, well, you know there's only a one-in-three chance that will be the key we need to unlock Leena and Robo's cell."

Ayla scowled and frowned. Then she dashed off down the hall towards Crono and Serge. Lucca just shook her head.

Crono and Serge glanced at Kid and Frog as they ran by; luckily there was enough room in the hall for them to pass by. A few moments later, Ayla stopped in front of them and held out her hand. "Give key. Ayla check if right key. If not right key, no time wait for Serge."

Crono and Serge glanced at each other, then Crono (who had been holding onto the key so Serge could use his crutches more easily) handed the key to Ayla.

Ayla nodded. "Thank you. Ayla go check." She then raced back the way she'd came.

o-o-o-o

Kid grabbed her set of keys off the Gray Room wall, then turned to go. "I'll be in the Yard. Good luck."

Frog was going to wish her the same, but before he could open his mouth Kid had already stepped out the door and slammed it behind her. Frog croaked at the impoliteness, then began scanning the room, trying to come up with ideas on places he hadn't looked yet.

o-o-o-o

Kid passed Crono and Serge as they neared the Dare Room, and ran left to the door to the Yard. As she unlocked the door and stepped out onto the grass, she frowned. Although the staff kept the grass trimmed, it was still long enough to easily hide a key.

"_I really hope they didn't leave a key in the grass. Trying to find it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack." _She broke into a run again as she headed over to the picnic table and pool, in the hopes a key would be some place obvious.

Inside, Lucca watched Kid's dash through the window. She then turned to Crono and Serge, who were just entering the Dare Room.

"Think we should follow Ayla over to the Dungeon?" Lucca asked.

Crono shook his head. "Either way, she'll be back."

o-o-o-o

Ayla stood in front of Leena and Robo's cell, her breath coming a little bit faster than normal due to all the running she'd been doing. "Ayla bring key," she told them, holding up the key.

Leena's eyes widened. "Did you? That's great!"

Robo warned, "Do not allow your hopes to raise too high, Mistress Leena. We do not know yet if it is the right key to open our cell."

Ayla said, "Ayla find out now." She put the key in the lock, and turned the key. With a "click", the door swung open.

Leena grinned, She clenched her fists in front of her and shook them, rattling the chains of her handcuffs. "You guys did it! Our team won!"

Ayla grinned, but said, "No win yet – we go back to Dare Room, then win!" She turned to the door, waving for them to follow as she bounded back to the door.

o-o-o-o

Kid crouched down and looked under the picnic table. She didn't see anything at first, and was going to stand back up, when something shiny next to one of the legs caught her eye. Moving over to the leg, she looked closer.

"Gotcha, ya little bugger!" Kid exclaimed as she picked up the key. She then turned and ran across the grass towards the door.

o-o-o-o

Leena stepped out of the cell, followed by Robo. They then began walking quickly to the door, but not quickly enough for Ayla's taste. Ayla dashed back over to them and grabbed the chain of Leena's handcuffs. "Hurry!" She then dragged Leena to the door as fast as she could on two feet.

"Hey, hold it! I'm coming!" Leena protested as she tried to keep up.

Robo followed them at a slow jog.

o-o-o-o

Kid ran down the hall as fast as she felt safe running barefoot. She was only a few yards away from the Dare Room when she saw Ayla step out of the Dungeon, dragging Leena and followed by Robo.

Her pace faltered for a moment – she knew all they had to do was get to the Dare Room to win, while she had to get to the Dungeon, free Marle and Harle, return with them to the Dare Room, and somehow get Frog there while she was at it. And that was assuming the key she had even was the one to Marle and Harle's cell. Short of a miracle, the Gray Team's chance of winning the Challenge was almost nothing at this point.

Still, she wasn't the sort to quit before the game was over. She dashed through the Dare Room and put on a new burst of speed, charging down the hall as fast as her legs would carry her.

At the other end of the hall, Leena complained to Ayla, "I could run faster if you didn't make me keep loosing my balance by pulling on my chain! Anyway, what's the rush? We're all free and the Gray Team isn't."

Ayla let go of Leena's chain, stepped out of her way, and pointed at Kid running down the hall toward them. "Kid have key. If right key, and Leena walk like snail, we loose. Leena say can run? Then run!"

"Fine." She took a deep breath, and then began jogging down the hall at a pace which was a bit faster than Ayla had been dragging her.

Ayla jogged beside her on two feet for a few moments. "Good. Leena walk like turtle, not snail. We no loose." She then switched to all fours and dashed off ahead of Leena.

"A turtle?" Leena exclaimed in outrage. "I'll show you!" She picked up her pace, breaking into a full run.

Behind them, Robo kept up a steady jog.

Kid ran by the three, her lungs and legs burning and her heart pounding as she neared the door to the Dungeon. Trying to stop at the door, she discovered that skidding to a stop with bare feet can be rather painful. Ignoring the pain, she pulled the door open and dashed inside.

Marle stared in concern at Kid, who in addition to breathing quite hard was also visibly sweating and even trembling a bit.

"Are you all right?" Marle asked in concern.

Ignoring Marle (she was too out of breath to answer, anyway), Kid jammed the key in the lock. She then tried to turn it, but it refused to budge. She fiddled with the key a bit, then even tried pulling it out and putting it back in more carefully, to no avail.

In anger, Kid pulled the key out and tossed it down the hall. She then let herself collapse in exhaustion. Still too winded to speak, she could only think, _"Dammit!"_

"Kid?" Marle asked.

o-o-o-o

Leena was breathing a little heavily when she reached the Dare Room, but not too much to say in a challenging voice, "So, how was that? Faster than a turtle?"

Ayla thought for a moment. "Yes. Now you run like Kilwala."

Leena blinked. "Um... Thanks?" she said, not certain if what Ayla had said was a compliment or not.

Robo arrived a few moments later, and a moment after that a cackle was heard and Norstein Bekkler descended from the ceiling.

"Red Team, I see you have all made it here, that means you win the 'Dungeon Escape' Team Challenge! Congratulations!"

Grins spread across most of the team. Crono and Lucca both went into their normal victory poses. Ayla thrust her arms into the air and let out a yell of joy.

Serge and Leena just rolled their eyes at their teammates.

Bekkler snapped his fingers, and the Red Team felt the "Lock All" release their magic and fighting techniques. Bekkler then continued, "As promised, I present to you the Skeleton Key to the Funhouse." A key appeared in one of his hands. It looked much like the keys to the rest of the rooms of the Funhouse, except the bow (the part you hold) was made to look like a stylized skull.

"With this you can enter both Red and Gray Rooms, the Hot Tub room, the Yard, the Library, and the Cafeteria. You now have full privileges to enter all of those rooms whenever you wish. Keep in mind however that the eleven o'clock curfew is sill in effect, as are the rules regarding sleeping in the other team's room." He held out the key to the team, and Crono took it.

A moment later, Ayla grabbed the key from Crono. "Ayla go out now! Want go out too, follow!" She then ran down the hall to the door to the Yard, unlocked it, and stepped out and began frolicking in the grass.

The rest of the team just watched her for a few moments.

Finally, Bekkler spoke up. "Well, now that the challenge is over, you'll all have to go get back into your costumes as soon as possible if you don't want to forfeit that dare – and that includes Ayla. However, before I leave you to go do that, do you have any questions?"

Lucca asked, "You let us take off our costumes to take baths. What about using the Hot Tub or Pool?"

"You may take your costumes off to relax in the Hot Tub (although you don't have to), but you must keep your costume on to go swimming in the Pool. Also, in the case of the Hot Tub if you are going to take your costume off you must do so in the Hot Tub room, and put the costume back on before leaving the room."

"Huh."

"Any other questions?"

Everyone shook their head or simply said nothing.

"All right then. I'll have the staff let the Gray Team know of their loss, and I'll see all of you again tomorrow for the Bonus Dares. In the mean time, enjoy your new privileges!"

With a cackle, Bekkler was gone.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "I guess I'll go let Ayla know we have to get back into our costumes."

Crono nodded. Lucca stared walking down the hall to the door to the Yard, while everyone else headed back to the Red Room.

_...To Be Continued..._

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

End Notes:

So, I'll try to post the next chapter in less than four years...

By the way, if anyone is wondering how the characters were able to see in the sewers, there was a little bit of light down there. As for where that light came from, it came from wherever the light comes from in all those caves and underground passages the cast traveled through in Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross.


	22. Episode Seventeen Part 2

Author's Note: I can't believe it's been over a year since I finished the last chapter – it really doesn't feel like it. I suppose a little over a year is better than four and a half years... But still, I really need to try to write this story faster.

Incidentally, a bit of a warning: the pacing in this chapter is unusually slow, even for me.

Finally, I've been working on revising "Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse" to meet my current writing standards. Most of it is all right, but there are some scenes and decisions early on that have been bugging me, and also some mistakes I've noticed in my more recent read-throughs.

In light of that, over the past month I have updated the first ten chapters (the Prelude and Episodes One to Eight) in the following ways: I have added a scene to the Prelude explaining why Magus is not in the game, and added a sub-plot in Episodes One and Two (chapters 2 & 3) dealing with Kid's reaction to this. I fixed a mistake in Episode Five (in the original version of the chapter Leena bet points when she didn't have any), and adjusted the scoreboard in subsequent chapters accordingly. In Episode Six (Chapters 7 & 8) I adjusted the vocabulary Ayla used while performing her dare to not be such a stretch from her normal vocabulary (while still keeping to the spirit of the original chapter), and I added a scene between her and Kid. In Episode Seven (Chapter 9) I added a short epilogue telling of what Pierre got up to after leaving the game. I have also given minor touch-ups to a variety of scenes through all ten chapters, and attempted to format all the chapters the same. The changes to chapters one to six were posted on November 9 and 10 2011, and the changes to chapters seven to ten were posted on November 29 2011.

o-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-o

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

by Chronos the Cat

Episode 17, Chapter 2

o-o-o-o-o

Frog was looking under the table for keys when he heard the door open. Looking to the door, he saw that it was one of the three old soldiers serving Bekkler. He thought it was Vicks, though he did have a hard time telling them apart.

Frog crawled out from under the table and stood up. "Can I help thee?"

"I'm afraid the Red Team just won the challenge."

Frog's eyes widened for a moment, then he sighed. "I see."

"I'm here to escort you back to the Dungeon."

Frog nodded. "Very well."

As they stepped out of the Gray Room, Frog saw Crono, Serge, Leena, and Robo heading into the Red Room, cheerful expressions on the humans' faces. Noticing Frog, Crono turned and gave him an apologetic look.

Frog gave a weak smile and shook his head. "'Tis the nature of the game."

Crono nodded, then after a moment, headed in to the Red Room.

o-o-o-o

Piette put his hand to his helmet over where his ear was for a moment, then turned to Marle and Harle (still in their cell) and Kid (lying on the floor in front of the other girls' cell).

"I just got word that the Challenge is over. Gray Team lost, so all of you will have to spend the night and tomorrow morning in the Dungeon."

Kid, finally recovered enough to speak, muttered, "That's... just... beautiful."

Marle exclaimed, "Kid, you're all right! You had me worried there."

"I'm not... alright. I'm tired and... out of breath, ...my heart is still pounding, ...my legs and feet are sore, ...and I'm sick and tired... of loosing! ...Not to mention... eating only junk-food."

Marle blinked at this.

Wedge said, "Well, unless you need to be healed, you still need to return to your cell."

Kid rubbed her forehead. "Yeah, yeah." She rolled over and got to her knees, then slowly stood up.

As Kid stumbled over to her cell, Marle asked, "What do you mean you're sick of loosing? We've won almost half of the Team Challenges!"

"Right, we've won two out of six challenges. That's not bad at all," Kid said sarcastically.

"Six? No, there were five." She began counting them off on her fingers. "The pie-eating contest, the three-legged race, looking for the key in the pool of slime, the trivia game, and this one."

As she stepped into her cell, Kid said, "Yer forgettin' the maze at the start of the game."

"Oh. Yeah."

Kid moved away from the door, and Wedge closed it and locked it. She called out to Marle, "Besides, it's not just the challenges. Every time one of our team leaves the game, that's a loss for us!"

Marle said thoughtfully, "I hadn't thought of that."

Kid made her way over to the bench and sat down roughly.

Marle looked at the hay on the floor. It was mostly in three clumps – the hay Marle had looked through, the hay Harle had looked through, and the hay they hadn't looked through carefully yet. There was also random clumps and pieces of hay and strewn across the floor. "Well, I guess we should put all the hay back into one pile," Marle said with a sigh.

Harle nodded, and began moving her pile of hay back onto the main pile. Marle started to do the same with her own pile, but then as she picked up a handful of hay, a key fell out of it to land on the floor.

Harle and Marle stared at the key for a few moments, then Marle scratched her head nervously. "Heh-heh-heh. What do you know, I found a key." Harle gave her a disapproving look.

Kid's eyebrow twitched, and she called out angrily, "If there weren't a wall between us, I'd kick yer ass!"

Wedge walked over to Harle and Marle's cell. "Since the challenge is over, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take that key."

Marle sighed, stepped over to the bars, and handed it to him.

A few minutes later, Vicks came in with Frog.

Wedge said to Frog, "We haven't secured the drain in your old cell yet, so we'll be putting you in this cell instead." He pointed to the cell across from Marle and Harle, where Leena and Robo had been incarcerated.

Frog croaked and nodded. "As thee wisheth." He walked into the cell, and Wedge closed and locked it behind him. Vicks and Piette then headed off to do something else, while Wedge settled down on a wooden stool by the dungeon door.

o-o-o-o

"Ayla wish no need wear costume. Want run around in yard." Ayla complained, adjusting her green mermaid tail. The cowboy hat and the high-tech looking wristbands she had chosen for the "cyborg" part of the costume didn't bother her, and she'd even gotten away with wearing her normal fur top, but needing to keep her legs in the restrictive mermaid tail was frustrating.

"You do not need to wear the costume, if you are willing to forfeit the dare and the points which were awarded because of the dare," Robo pointed out.

Ayla scowled. "Ayla not back down from challenge. Ayla not let team down."

Lucca put her hand to the cybernetic-style goggles that covered her upper face, once more expecting to need and be able to adjust her glasses. "Well, you can still go out and get some fresh air. Although it's a rather cold and damp day for that." In addition to the goggles, she wore a green tail, a green button-down shirt, an orange vest (closed), and a cowboy hat.

"Ayla no care about cold and damp! Ayla go breath fresh air." She began crawling to the door of the Red Room.

"Hold on," Lucca said, also crawling towards the door. "I want to check out the Hot Tub, and there's only one Skeleton Key."

"Ayla unlock door to Hot Tub before going outside," Ayla assured her.

Lucca slowed down. "Okay." She looked back at the rest of the team. "Anyone else coming?"

Leena said, "Ooh, checking out the Hot Tub does sound like fun. But what are we going to wear? We can't change into our bathing suits ahead of time, and I don't really like the idea of all of us changing in the same room at the same time." She was once more dressed in her purple mermaid tail, western dress, cowboy hat, and bulky "cyborg" arms with simple mechanical claws instead of hands.

Not wanting to wait for the conversation to conclude, Ayla grabbed the Skeleton Key and headed out.

In answer to Leena's question, Lucca suggested, "We could wear our costumes in the water – or at least, the tails and something to cover our tops for you and me. I mean, the tails are supposed to be mermaid tails."

Leena thought about that. "I don't know. Hmm... Maybe we could put on our bathing suits underneath our costumes? Then we would just have to take the costumes off when we got there."

"That sounds good, even if it does mean changing again." She looked at the guys. Crono wore a light-blue tail, a tan vest which he had left open, his normal scarf, and a cowboy hat, along with plastic "armor" on his right arm (with a fully articulated armored hand), while Serge wore a dark blue tail, a black hat, and a black vest over plastic "cybernetic" chest "armor". Robo, as he had never been part of the "Cyborg Cowboy Mermaid" costume dare was wearing his normal leather tassels over bare metal. "So any of you coming?"

Robo said, "While my systems are designed to be water resistant, I derive no pleasure from immersion in water, regardless of the temperature. I shall decline."

Crono and Serge glanced at each other. They weren't sure it would be as fun as the girls seemed to think, but on the other hand it should still be nice, and they'd also get to see the girls in their bathing suits again. Crono shrugged, then the two nodded to the girls.

Everyone headed into the bedroom to get their bathing suits, then the process of changing again began.

o-o-o-o

Ayla stretched and breathed in the cool, fresh air as she knelt on the grass just inside the yard. It was nice to breath fresh air again – she couldn't understand how the others could stand being cooped up inside for days on end.

She wished she could run around properly, to celebrate being outside and to use up some of her excess energy. Still, having her legs bound together didn't mean she had to crawl around slowly. She already was used to running on all fours, so all she had to do was modify her gait for three limbs instead of four.

She did a few practice "steps", then began racing across the yard. The wind caught her hat, but luckily she had foreseen this back when she picked it out, and had gotten one with a string to tie it on with, and now it just wound up hanging behind her head.

o-o-o-o

Robo stepped into the Library, and nodded at the elderly Librarian. "Greetings, Mister Peck."

"Hello, Robo. Back to scan some more books, eh?"

"Correct."

"I'm surprised you have any books left to scan, what with how fast your read them."

Robo inclined his head. "Although I can read books quickly, if I am to fully understand them I must still take the time to process what I've read. I simply chose to scan as much as possible in a short time, then process that information later, at leisure."

"Well, whatever works for you. You know your way around here by now, so I'll just leave you to your reading."

"Thank you." Robo headed over to the philosophy section.

o-o-o-o

"And then suddenly, I was back in the Queen's room. Crono was standing there, and so was Lucca. Lucca asked me if I was all right, but she used my real name – she'd figured out who I was." Marle said, continuing her story from earlier about how she and her friends wound up traveling through time.

She went on, "They didn't really explain what had just happened then, but later they told me I had ceased to exist because some Mystics were holding the real Queen Leene captive, and were planning on killing her. Since she hadn't had a daughter yet, if the Mystics had went through with it, the royal line would have ended there and I would never have been born. Crono and Lucca had to rescue the Queen to save me."

Harle frowned. "So, did zey go back in time to save her?"

Marle shook her head. "No, the Queen hadn't been killed yet when I vanished."

Harle looked confused. "But... Why should you disappear before ze Queen was killed? For zat matter, if zey rescued her, why should you disappear at all?"

Marle shrugged. "You think I understand how altering history works? Ask Lucca or Robo later."

Although it was hard to hear through the wall, Kid had been listening to the conversation. She now called out, "The Entity did it!"

Marle blinked. "Huh?"

Kid walked over to the wall of bars separating her cell from the hallway, so she wouldn't have to shout. "The Spirit of the planet, the Entity. Robo, Lucca, and I talked about this, and we think it was responsible for your disappearance."

"Why do you think that?"

"Based on everything you guys went through, time travelers are immune to changes to history. That's why you guys could get a weapon in the present and then travel back to the middle ages and get it again, and that's why you still remember the future where Lavos had devastated the world even though you prevented that future. So as a time-traveler, you couldn't possibly have been erased from history by your own actions.

"That means something else made you disappear. We don't really know what it was, but the Entity had the power to do it, and a few reasons, too."

"Like what?"

"If you hadn't disappeared, Crono and Lucca might not have gone to rescue Leene. Fighting the demi-humans in the cathedral, thinking you'd changed history – that gave you the confidence to think you might be able to stop the Day of Lavos."

"Yeah, that's right. But could the Entity really have known things would work out that way?"

Even though Marle couldn't see it, Kid shrugged. "I don't know. But there was another reason to get Crono and Sis to help rescue Leene - like Sis told you, unless Frog could rescue her alone, the Guardia line would have died out. Sure, the version of you sent to the past shoulda still been around, but in your home time things woulda been totally different. When you got back to your time, no one but Crono and Sis woulda known who you were, so Crono wouldn'ta been put on trial fer kidnapping you, and none of ya woulda had any reason to escape through that Gate to the Future. And even if you had gone through the Gate anyway, without one of your descendants running the Info Center, who's to say if the record of the Day of Lavos would have been made or have survived all that time..."

Marle blinked. "Wow, I never thought about that."

Harle scowled, and complained, "I zink I 'ave just 'eard some of ze story out of order."

Kid replied, "Like I care."

After a bit of thought, Marle said, "If I was still around, then so long as I had kids one day the Guardia line would technically continue... But not as the Kingdom's rulers, and I suppose that might have made a difference." The thought occurred to her that they had a similar situation now – so far as she knew she was the only member of the Guardia line alive in this time period, and she only survived because of time travel. And, as in the scenario they were contemplating, while she could continue the line, the only way the line could continue as the rulers of Guardia was if they prevented the line from failing in the first place.

Harle meanwhile, was contemplating Kid's theory. Walking over to the wall of bars to be heard better, she asked, "Iz zat really ze only reasons you have to zink zat ze Entity was responsible for zese events? It seems to moi zat your evidence is rather thin."

Kid crossed her arms, and said with a little heat, "Yeah, well, it's still the only idea we have that makes any sense. Unless you've got a better idea?"

"Are you certain you know as much about time travel as you zink? When I hear Marle's story, I do not zink 'a god must have reached out and snatched her away', I zink 'zere iz somet'ing about time travel I do not understand'."

Marle could tell Kid and Harle were about to wind up in an argument, so she decided to distract them. Looking across the hall at Frog, she said. "Speaking of Crono and Lucca's quest to rescue Queen Leene, I never did hear the full story of that. You were there too, Frog, maybe you could tell it?"

Frog considered this for a moment, then nodded. "If thee so desire it, 'twould be my honor."

Harle and Marle sat down as Frog began his story. "To begin with, thee must know that I had for some years served as Her Majesty Queen Leene's bodyguard. 'Twas due to negligence on my part that she was taken, something I deeply regret. I immediately set about searching the land for her and her kidnappers, and finally came to believe there was something suspicious about Manolia Cathedral. I was investigating it when I heard the sounds of battle..."

o-o-o-o

Lucca opened the door to the Hot Tub room, and she, Leena, Serge, and Crono crawled in. They discovered that the room was rather crowded for four people – there would be enough room in the Tub itself, but there wasn't a lot of floor space.

Lucca frowned at the towels lying on the floor in a disorganized mess. "I guess the cleaning staff haven't been in here recently..." She pushed them aside and piled them unfolded in a single heap a bit more out of the way.

Leena closed the door, and said, "Well, I guess we should get out of our costumes. Serge, I'll need your help with these." She held up her "cyborg" arms.

Familiar with how they came off by now, he went to work taking them off.

Meanwhile, Crono and Lucca watched each other with interest as they took off their costumes to reveal their bathing suits underneath. As before, Crono was wearing blue trunks, while Lucca was wearing a modest but sexy orange one-piece suit. Rather than switching to her glasses, Lucca just left the visor part of her costume on.

Once Leena's costume arms were off, they needed to unlock her handcuffs. After that she was able to take off the rest of her costume on her own, allowing Serge to focus on taking off his costume.

While Leena and Serge got undressed, Lucca checked on the settings of the tub. "Looks like they keep it hot. That's convenient for us, but it strikes me as a little wasteful. I wonder how they heat it...? Anyway the temperature looks good. We'll have to experiment with the water flow to see what we like, but for now I'll just leave it as it is."

Crono climbed in the tub, followed shortly by Lucca.

Before long, Serge and Leena were down to their swim suits – dark blue trunks in Serge's case, and a white two-piece in Leena's case. Serge of course still had the cast on his right leg, while Leena put her handcuffs back on before getting in the tub.

As Leena and Serge sat down, Lucca asked, "Hey Leena, do you need to wear those handcuffs while in here? I mean you're allowed to take them off to change your clothing, and we don't have to wear our costumes in here... It would stand to reason that you wouldn't have to wear your handcuffs either."

"I'm not sure," Leena admitted. "They never said I didn't have to wear them in here, though, so I figured I would just to be safe."

Lucca shrugged. "I suppose, short of asking, that probably is the best option. You should check, though, when you're allowed to take them off."

"Yeah, I suppose I probably should," Leena said as if it was a chore she would rather not bother with.

Lucca moved over to the controls. "Anyway, I'm going to turn up the jets for my seat a little. Anyone else want anything adjusted?"

Crono and Serge shook their heads, and Leena said, "No, I'm good."

Lucca adjusted the controls, then moved back to her spot. She leaned back and let out a contented sigh. "Ah, that's good."

o-o-o-o

Out in the yard, Ayla stopped by the pool. She tested it and frowned. It was a bit cold – though not nearly as bad as some mountain streams she'd walked through before (and positively warm compared to the snow and wind of the Dark Age). It was colder than she would have liked, but going for a swim still sounded nice.

She dove in, and as she neared the bottom she began experimenting using her legs as one to swim (with a little help from the fin of her costume). When she felt she couldn't hold her breath much longer, she used her arms to swim back up to the surface. She took another breath of air, then dove back down.

o-o-o-o

"You **swam **the Straight of Zenan?!" Kid and Harle exclaimed at the same time (though Harle said "ze" instead of "the").

Frog croaked. "The bridge was broken, and I wished to cross. How else was I to do so?"

Kid said dryly, "Ya coulda gotten a boat, ya know."

Harle mused, "To swim such a distance... Wait, what am I saying? I do not remember how wide zis straight is." She turned to Marle. "Is it very wide?"

Humoring her, Marle said, "Yeah, it's wide."

Frog pointed out, "I am a frog. Swimming comes naturally to me."

Marle asked, "So, what did you do once you got to the other side?"

"I spent some time wandering around, thinking about mine life and mistakes, and fighting any of the Magus' troops that I came across. And then one day I stopped at a bar in Porre... But perhaps this tale would better be told after thee hast told of the adventures thee, Lucca, and Crono went through between our parting and our next meeting?"

Marle thought about that. "I suppose so. Alright, so after I returned from whatever that cold dark place was, we all went and said goodbye to the King and Queen, then headed to Truce Canyon, where we'd first entered the middle ages..."

o-o-o-o

After ten minutes or so Ayla had managed to become proficient in swimming using her arms and mermaid tail. She swam around in the pool for a few more minutes before getting bored.

She then climbed out of the pool, and lay down on the grass, looking up at the overcast sky. As she watched the clouds slowly move across the sky, she wondered what Kino was doing at this moment. She had come to understood by now that she was in the future, and that Kino (and everyone she knew, and even Ayla herself) had all died countless generations ago, but it was hard to truly grasp this; the world had changed so much since her time that it felt like a completely different place rather than a different time. And she also knew that when you spent time in another era, when you returned home the same amount of time would have passed there as well; if you asked Ayla this meant that "today" extended across the eras, and that in a way Kino and the rest of her tribe were still alive and well even if you would need to ride the Epoch to reach them.

At any rate, she missed Kino.

o-o-o-o

Crono looked at Lucca and smirked.

"What?" Lucca said in an annoyed tone. It looked a bit strange when she talked, as the lips of her latex mask didn't move with her real lips.

"Your skin is red – like that time at Ayla's party the day we met her. Also, your mask is loose."

"Yeah, I'm getting a bit hot. And this mask is really annoying right now – my sweat is making is slippery. Anyway, I suppose I should get out before I over-heat." She climbed out, grabbed a towel, and began wiping off the worst of the water. "Oh, and for the last time, I wasn't drunk – I was just getting into the party!"

Crono smiled. "Whatever you say."

o-o-o-o

"Suddenly, we heard a loud explosion coming from the Prison Tower. The maid ran off to find out what was going on, but I knew Crono had to have something to do with it, so I grabbed my bow and armor, before running down to the Throne Room. I was going to head over to the Prison Tower, but as I entered the Entrance Hall, Crono and Lucca ran in from the direction of that Tower, followed by a bunch of soldiers. It turns out Lucca had decided to rescue Crono – I wish I'd thought of that.

"I ordered the soldiers to stand down, and they did – until my father and the Chancellor showed up. We had a big argument, and when it became clear I wasn't going to be able change their mind about Crono and Lucca, I pulled off my dress and ran down to join Crono and Lucca. Then all three of us ran out of the castle together."

Harle blinked. "So, you ran outside with your friends au naturale?"

"What? No! I was wearing pants and a shirt underneath my dress. The same outfit I wore to the fair, and I've worn on my adventures since then. Um, I don't think you've seen it since your latest bout of amnesia, but it's white baggy pants, and a white shirt that leaves my arms and shoulders bare. And of course I was wearing my sandals, and as soon as I had time I put on my armor too."

"But, why were you wearing pants and a shirt under your dress?"

"Er..." Marle blushed.

Kid spoke up from her cell. "What I'm wondering is how you just 'pull off' a formal gown. I've worn a few of those before – particularly back when I was Schala – and I know they aren't easy to get on or off."

Harle raised an eyebrow at Kid's comment about being "Schala".

Marle scratched her head. "Er, I just grabbed it and pulled, and it tore right off. I don't think it was usable again after that, but I wasn't really worried about that at the time."

"You're joking, right?"

"Huh? No. Why would you think that?" Marle said with honest confusion.

"Because if you're telling the truth, then either that was one incredibly flimsy dress, or you're a helluva lot stronger than you look."

Marle shrugged. "Well, they did always call me a tomboy when I was growing up."

Kid rubbed her forehead. "That doesn't really explain it, you know."

o-o-o-o

As she crawled from the pool-side to the door of the yard, Ayla found herself shivering. She mused to herself that going for a long swim in cold water then lying in the cool air soaking wet on such a cool day might not have been the best of ideas.

The relative warmth of the Funhouse was a welcome change from the cool outside air, though she knew it wouldn't be long before she was wishing the indoor air was as fresh (if not as cold) as the outdoor air. In the mean time, she still felt rather cold despite the warm air. Perhaps checking out this "Hot Tub" might be a good idea after all?

She considered locking the door to the yard, then realized that as far as she knew there wasn't any point to it anymore – both teams were allowed out there now, after all. Leaving the door unlocked, she moved over to the door to the Hot Tub room and opened it. To her surprise, Lucca was mostly in costume, and in the process of putting on her hat as Ayla opened the door.

"Lucca done in Hot Tub?"

"Yeah, what of it?" Lucca said, wondering if this was a comment on Lucca being unable to stand the hot water as long as the others.

Ayla moved aside. "You done, I let you out before I go in."

Lucca blinked. "Oh. Thank you." As she crawled out, Lucca looked Ayla over. She had dirt, grass, and grass stains all over her hands and knees, as well as some grass stuck to her hair. "You're planning on going in the Hot Tub?"

Ayla nodded.

"Maybe you should go take a bath in the regular tub first."

"Why?"

"Because you're a little dirty, and the Hot Tub isn't meant for getting clean, it's meant for relaxing."

"Hot Tub have running water, and hole for water to go out?"

"A hole for water to run out of is called a drain, and yes the hot tub has one as well as running water."

"Then dirt go down drain. No problem."

Lucca threw her hands up in the air. "Fine! But the next time I want to take a soak in the Hot Tub I'd better not find grass stuck in the drain!"

Ayla nodded, and crawled in to the room, while Lucca headed back to the Red Room.

In the Hot Tub room, Ayla looked the Hot Tub over, and stuck a hand in the water. "Like hot spring. Nice."

She brushed the worst of the dirt and grass off of her (including the dirt and grass on her back, which Lucca hadn't seen), then she climbed in.

Leena said, "With how much you complain about your mermaid tail, I would have expected you to take it off in here, since you can."

Ayla shook her head. "No room stretch legs with others in pool. No room stretch legs, no point taking tail off."

Leena nodded. "I guess I can understand that. You might able to stretch your legs in a few minutes though – I don't plan on staying in here much longer, and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the guys have had enough."

She had barely finished speaking when Crono moved to get out of the Tub. He could have stood the water a lot longer, but he was bored, and it felt a bit awkward being in a Hot Tub with two girls when neither of them was one of the girls who had a chance at his heart.

As he dried off, Crono contemplated Marle and Lucca. He cared for both of them deeply, but he wasn't sure what he felt for either of them was love. He could certainly see his feelings deepening to love, and he could even picture marrying one of them and raising a family. Before Lucca had admitted her feelings for him, he had assumed it would be Marle he would settle down with – she seemed to love him, and he had liked her since they'd first met. Now, though, he had to choose between two girls who he cared for equally and he wasn't quite sure how to make that choice.

As he tossed his towel aside he shrugged. He was sure it would work out somehow.

o-o-o-o

"I had been watching Lucca as she worked, and I noticed there was one button she never pressed. Curious, I pointed to it and asked what it did. However, I moved my hand too close to it and accidentally hit it." Marle sounded a bit embarrassed by this. "Suddenly, the screen changed, showing a blue grid and a bunch of graphs and the text..." Marle expression grew grim, and she said in a quiet voice, "'1999 A.D.: Visual record of the Day of Lavos.'"

Marle was quiet for a moment, and Harle looked at her curiously. Frog continued sitting calmly, waiting for Marle to continue.

Kid shuddered, closed her eyes and grit her teeth at the bad memories the name "Lavos" brought back. Doing her best to put them aside, she opened her eyes and moved into the corner of her cell closest to the hall and Marle and Harle's cell, to hear better.

Marle closed her eyes and spoke quietly and with little emotion. "The screen changed again, showing an overhead view of a landscape. There was a desert and some mountains, but there was also a lot of green, and the ocean was a beautiful blue. There was a domed city like the ones we'd visited, but this one didn't look like it was in ruins.

"The view grew dark, like the sky had clouded over, and glowing yellow cracks spread across the ground to the south of the city. The cracks widened and merged into a gaping hole larger than the city and glowing yellow from within. Rocks flew out of the hole, some of them seeming to levitate above it. And then a huge ball of spikes rose part-way out of the pit. Needles of light flew out of the ball, and began raining down on the land.

"The view changed, showing a close-up of a domed city by the sea – it looked like it was built where Truce is in the present. The needles of light rained down around and on the city, causing huge explosions. ...And then the picture flickered and was replaced by static."

Marle opened her eyes. "It was only then that, after having seen how the world was destroyed, that we accepted that we were in the future."

Kid clenched the bars of her cell. She had heard about all this before, when her "big Sis" Lucca told her stories growing up. However, back then they had just been fun stories of adventure – she hadn't comprehended the incredible tragedy that Lavos' destruction of the world represented – the loss of billions of human lives, the death of most animals and plants around the world, and the loss of not only a way of life but almost all hope. And also when she had heard these tales as a child, she had not been able to remember being bonded with a fragment of that creature for a seeming eternity, her body grafted to its body, her mind fouled by the monster's dark thoughts and emotions.

Schala had never hated anyone in her life prior to her being fused with the shard of Lavos. Kid had strongly dislike many people in her short life but had only ever truly hated two people prior to merging with Schala. However, the hatred Kid had came to feel for Lavos after merging with Schala far surpassed all the hatred she had ever felt for Lynx and Harle. She took some satisfaction in remembering the pain the Time Devourer had felt during its battle with Serge's party, and even more in the thought that since Crono's party had been forced to whittle away at Lavos' strength over the course of a long and brutal battle, Lavos likely died in considerable agony – though she knew that back in the days of Zeal Schala would have been appalled at being happy about such a thing.

While Kid thought about her hatred of Lavos, in Harle and Marle's cell Harle asked, "So, in ze future zis 'Lavos' will rise from ze earth and bring ruin to ze world?"

Marle shook her head. "No. We changed the future. We killed Lavos, before he could destroy the world."

Harle laughed. "Zis is a joke, yes? How could ze human being like you hope to kill a being who could reduce ze world to such ruin as you described?"

Marle put her left hand on her hip and clenched her right fist (since she couldn't bend that arm). "No, it's not a joke! We learned magic, and fought a lot of powerful monsters, and got really strong. And even then it wasn't easy – but we did it."

Frog croaked, and stood up. "'Tis true, Lady Harle. I can attest to it, for I was a part of the group that slew that foul beast. However I can understand thy disbelief – even I have a hard time believing how powerful we have become.

"We cannot demonstrate our power here – even if 'twere not against the rules, we would risk destroying the Funhouse were we to do so. However, should thou still doubt our story when we leave the Funhouse, we would be happy to show you our power then."

Harle had an introspective look. "Zis is as hard to believe as... well, I cannot remember at ze moment, but it seems to me I was told something else hard to swallow recently."

Marle crossed her arms as best she could do with one arm frozen straight. "Well, if you don't want me to tell this story..."

Harle shook her head slightly. "No, no, please continue. I would still like to know how you acquired a time machine, and if nothing else zis is an interesting way to pass ze time."

Marle said reluctantly, "Alright, but no more accusing me of lying."

Harle held her hands up apologetically. "Yes, yes. I will say no more words of doubt."

Marle let out a deep breath. "Right. So where was I?"

Frog said, "Thou hadst just viewed the record of the Day of Lavos."

Marle frowned. "Yeah... I was pretty upset – we all were. But we decided that since we had the power of time travel we might be able to stop the Day of Lavos from happening. I guess this is where what Kid was saying about how my disappearance helped us comes in – we thought Crono and Lucca had already changed history, so doing it again didn't sound impossible.

"Of course, at that point we weren't planning on fighting the big bug ourselves. In fact we really didn't have a plan at all about how to stop him. Instead, we decided to investigate and see what we could find out about him in the different time periods. We were all anxious to get back to our home time, too, so we decided to start our investigation there. However, first we needed to get to Proto Dome..."

o-o-o-o

Lucca was amazed by how quiet the Red Room was without anyone else in it. It also didn't seem quite so small, though it was still quite cozy.

She headed into the bedroom and pulled out the latest book she'd borrowed from the library, _"__Practical Cybernetics__" _by Luccia. Some of the mechanical designs in the book were advancements from things Lucca herself apparently had came up with in the years between returning from her adventures in time and her death. As she crawled back into the living room with the book, Lucca mused that this information, along with other information she'd found out during this trip, ought to advance her own work by several years once she finally was done with her own adventures – meaning that in the next timeline Luccia's book would be even more advanced.

Settling into the easy-chair, Lucca frowned. She was assuming that she would one day return to the present with her present memories. Unfortunately, if the time travel rules she, Robo, and Kid had worked out were true, the Time Traveler's Immunity of the versions of her and her friends known to this history would trump that of the versions now playing the Funhouse, causing the Funhouse players to eventually cease to exist.

And yet, the enigmatic creator of this game, the demi-human Chronos the Cat, had implied that they would be able to use their knowledge of this future to change history. Did he – a time-traveler himself, or so he said – not know how time-travel worked? Did she, Robo, and Kid have it wrong? Or did Chronos have some plan that would allow them to break the ordinary rules of time-travel?

Lucca shook her head. She would have to have a chat with Chronos and/or Belthasar when she got out of the Funhouse, but in the mean time there was no way to know for sure. She did hope though that somehow this version of her wouldn't cease to exist, and that she, Crono, and Marle would be able to prevent the fall of Guardia.

Putting the matter aside for the time being, Lucca opened the book and began reading.

Lucca had only been reading for a few minutes when Crono crawled in.

Lucca looked up from her book and said "Hey," in greeting. Crono nodded in return.

Lucca glanced down at her book, then up at Crono, trying to decide whether she should go back to reading. She was tempted to; she found the book quite fascinating. On the other hand, this was a perfect opportunity to do something together, just the two of them. The only question was, what? She wasn't interested in sparring just for fun (and their costumes made that difficult anyway), and she didn't have any inventions to show off or to get him to help her build. The games the team had came up with to pass the time had gotten old by this point, and she didn't feel like any of them. There was always making out, but she didn't feel like jumping straight into that at the moment.

Crono was just kneeling there in the middle of the room, looking around; Lucca could tell he was trying to decide what to do. Sticking a bookmark in her book and closing the book, she said, "Crono, are you reading anything from the library right now?"

Crono nodded.

"Why don't you go get a book or two, and we can sit together while we read?" She figured if they didn't get too caught up in their books, that could eventually lead to a make-out session; otherwise they would at least be able to enjoy spending time together and maybe cuddling a bit while they read.

Crono shrugged and nodded, not having anything better to do. He crawled into the bedroom, and got out a couple of graphic novels he'd borrowed from the library. When he returned to the main room, he found that Lucca had moved from the chair to the couch, and had returned to reading. She looked up and noticed him raising an eyebrow; she explained, "I wanted to sit next to you, but I figured it would be a little cramped trying to fit both of us on the chair, particularly when we're both going to be reading different things and will need to turn pages and such." She then patted the couch next to her. "Come on."

Crono crawled over to the couch and climbed up on it next to Lucca. After he had settled in, she moved over a few inches, closing the small gap between them Crono had left, and leaned against him. Crono looked down at her for a moment as she returned to reading, then he opened the first of his graphic novels and began reading himself.

o-o-o-o

Robo walked down the hall, his data banks now filled with the scanned contents of many books he had glanced through in the library. He now wished to process this newly acquired data, and since entering the Funhouse it had become customary for him to stand in the bedroom or main room of the Red apartment when thinking. However, when he opened the door to the Red Room, he was surprised to see Lucca and Crono sitting on the couch, leaning together. The two glanced up at him, and quickly moved apart; however in the instant before they did this he noticed that Lucca had been curled up against Crono, and that Crono had had his arm around her shoulders loosely.

"Er, hello, Robo," Lucca said nervously. Crono waved to Robo.

"Greetings, Lucca and Crono." He bowed to them.

Straightening up, he glanced back and forth between the two of them for a moment. He didn't understand why they were so embarrassed to have him catch them cuddling – it might not be socially acceptable to act like that in public, but the Red Room was not a public place, and Crono, Marle, and Lucca had always acted in an informal manner no matter where they were. It wasn't as if there was anything wrong about them sitting together like that, as far as he knew.

"Um, you're probably wondering what we were doing..." Lucca said hesitantly, trying to figure out how she was going to explain this. Should she try to deny that she and Crono were doing anything romantic? Or should she try to explain how she and Marle had agreed to compete for Crono's heart?

"It appeared you and Crono were sitting together, reading," Robo said.

"Uh... Right..." Lucca responded, not sure how to take Robo's reply. She couldn't believe he hadn't seen anything – had he just not understood its significance?

In actuality, Robo knew far more about the situation than Lucca realized – Kid had heard about Lucca and Crono's first kiss at the same time as Marle, back when Marle was performing the 24-hour full-body-cast dare, and needing to discuss her "Sis" going after a guy whose marriage to someone else Kid had assumed was practically destined, Kid had confided in Robo. Robo had reminded her that destiny was not always a good thing, and suggested she let Crono, Marle, and Lucca work things out themselves.

Not wishing to intrude upon Crono and Lucca's time together, Robo changed his plans. "I was thinking of spending some time out in the yard," he told them, then glanced to the wall where the team usually hung their keys. "I do not see the Skeleton Key; I assume Mistress Ayla still has it?"

Lucca nodded, a relieved expression on her face. "I think so."

"Very well. In that case I shall leave you two to your reading." He bowed again, then left.

Lucca stared at the door for several moments after Robo had left, then let out a sigh of relief. "That was a close one." In a thoughtful tone, she added, "I'm a bit surprised he didn't suspect anything, actually. Usually he's pretty observant."

Crono suggested, "Maybe he was being polite?"

"You mean, pretending he didn't see anything because pointing out we were cuddling would have been rude?"

Crono nodded.

"That could be. ...Maybe I should talk to him later, make sure he doesn't have the wrong impression about us..."

"If you want to."

"Yeah. I really don't want him thinking we're having an affair, and you're cheating on Marle, or something."

"I don't think he would judge us," Crono pointed out.

"I suppose not, but still..."

Crono moved closer to her, and put his arm around her. She let herself relax into his arm, then curled back up on the couch against him.

o-o-o-o

Serge finished toweling off Leena, then pulled out another towel and began drying himself off.

"Oh, let me help!" Leena said, grabbing another towel herself.

"But..." Serge said, glancing down at the handcuffs on her wrists.

"What?" Leena asked, as she began rubbing and patting his torso with the towel, holding onto the towel with both hands.

Serge shook his head. "Never mind."

The two of them worked together to dry him off, Serge letting Leena do most of the work just because she liked giving him the attention and he liked receiving it. However, they discovered a problem when they started drying off his cast. The outside of it dried easily enough, but there was no way to dry the inside.

Serge frowned. "How am I supposed to dry the inside of the cast?" he wondered.

Ayla suggested, "Wait. Cast will dry on own. Air get inside, do it for you." As soon as Serge and Leena had gotten out of the pool she had pulled off her mermaid tail, and was now stretching her legs in the water.

"Maybe... But probably not very quickly, particularly if I put my merman tail back on... I don't really want to leave my leg soaking for hours or more... And the soggy padding probably won't feel very good when it's cold..."

Leena suggested, "Maybe you should go see if they'll do anything to help you in the resource room?"

Serge sighed. "I suppose." He wasn't looking forward to dealing with Marion or Anar, but it was probably better than leaving his leg in a cast with soggy padding all night.

Serge and Leena put on their costumes, then headed out, intending to stop at the Supply Room before heading back to the Red Room.

Noticing that the hot water felt much better on her bare legs then it had through the material of her mermaid tail, Ayla decided to see if removing more clothing would feel even better. She had just taken off the last of her clothing and decided that the hot tub did indeed feel much better in the nude, when the door opened.

Ayla looked up, wondering if she was about to get yelled at by Leena or Lucca for not wearing any clothes. To her relief, it was Robo who stepped in. "Oh, hello Robo!"

"Excuse me, Mistress Ayla..." He paused and looked around the room in confusion. "Master Serge and Mistress Leena are not here?" Robo asked curiously.

Ayla shook her head. "Went to Resource Room, try get cast dry."

"I see. At any rate, I was wondering if you had the Skeleton key?"

"Yes, key here." She grabbed the key from where she had left it on the side of the hot tub. "You want?"

"Yes, please. I wish to spend some time out in the yard."

"No need key. I no lock door. No one to keep in now."

"This is true. In that case you may keep the key if you wish."

Ayla shrugged and put it back down. "Too bad you not come out when Ayla go out. Less boring with more than one person."

"You raise a valid point. I apologize for my poor planning, " Robo said with a bow. Of course, he hadn't been planning on going outside that day until he had discovered Crono and Lucca cuddling and had decided to give them privacy; however he couldn't tell Ayla that since Crono and Lucca had yet to publicly admit to their relationship and it wouldn't be proper to reveal that information without their permission.

Ayla waved his apology off. "No worry. Bad planning happen to everyone."

"Indeed. Well, unless you need me for something, I shall be off."

"No need. See later."

"Very well then. Goodbye." Robo bowed again, and left.

Ayla laid back in the tub, and sighed in pleasure at the feel of the hot water around her.

o-o-o-o

"And then you press this button to turn it on," Marion told Leena, pointing to one of the buttons on the blow-dryer.

Leena pressed the button, and nearly dropped the device in surprise at the loud noise it made as it blew hot air out its nozzle.

Speaking over the noise, Marion said, "Now point it inside the cast." She took Leena by the hand and gently guided her, moving the dryer near to Serge's right foot and pointing it past his bare toes into the end of the cast. "Like that." Serge was sitting on a bench; while he was still wearing the upper half of his costume, he had taken the merman tail off so they could dry the cast.

"Let her know if it gets too hot," Marion said, still speaking up over the din. "We can turn it down, or move to the other end for a while. You're lucky you only have a short leg-cast; the hot air ought to be able to reach almost everywhere in there – if you had a long leg cast it would be a lot more difficult to dry the center of it." Smiling, she added cheerfully, "It's also lucky for you we use fiberglass casts. If it had been plaster, the cast itself would have gotten soft and came apart, and we would have needed to make a new one for you."

Serge didn't quite understand why Marion was sharing irrelevant trivia like that with them unasked for and so cheerfully, but he only raised an eyebrow at it.

o-o-o-o

"And we landed on an island just south of Guardia – the same one Lucca's house was on."

"You mean to tell moi you jumped into a mysterious pool of water and just happened to get caught in a whirlpool which transported you through the ocean and flung you through the air onto an island which just happened to be one you knew well. ...And all of this without being hurt in the slightest?"

"Yeah, that's what happened." Marle said with a nod.

Harle looked rather skeptical, but chose not to share her doubts. Instead, she merely said, "You and your companions were very lucky jumping into zat pool turned out so well for you... I fear it could have gone far worse."

Marle shrugged. "I suppose so."

Harle said skeptically, "And what of zis tale zat Hekran and ze Medina villagers told of how ze Magus created Lavos? If you ask me, it sound very suspicious."

"Yeah, that turned out to be a lie Magus told his followers to hide his real goals from them. But I'll get to that in a little bit."

"I see. Please, continue, then."

"Right. So, we recuperated in Truce for a little bit, then headed up to the Millennial Fair and used the Gate there to return to the Middle Ages..."

o-o-o-o

Robo looked around at the grass covered lawn of the yard, and up at the pale gray sky above. He was surprised to realize he had missed being outside, amongst "nature", so to speak. True, this small patch of mowed grass was quite humble compared to the great forests and plains that the party had seen in their trips through time, but it was still thriving life – more natural and alive than the rooms they had been staying in, or the bleak ruins of his home era in the original timeline.

Robo turned so he could look in the window to see anything going on in the halls of the Funhouse, then stood still and turned most of his mind to the books he had scanned at the library.

Several minutes later, he was taken out of his "reading" when the part of his mind monitoring his sensors alerted him to movement in the hallway to the south. Focusing his attention, he realized that Serge and Leena were crawling down the hall in their cyborg-cowperson-merperson costumes. Robo realized they were probably going to head back to the Red Room now, in which case they would likely interrupt Crono and Lucca's romantic activities much as he had.

Robo headed inside, and met up with Serge and Leena in the hall. "Greetings, Master Serge, Mistress Leena," he said with a bow.

Serge nodded, and Leena said, "Hello, Robo."

"I heard from Mistress Ayla that you had went to the Resource Room to dry Master Serge's cast. Were you successful in this?"

Leena nodded. "Yeah. It was neat, they had this device I could hold in my hand that blew hot air out if it. It looked sort of like a bulky gun, and Marion had me point it inside the cast. I think she called it a 'blow dryer'."

Robo nodded. "I have heard of such devices. They become relatively common in the second half of the twentieth century. They are designed for drying hair, hence they are also called 'hair dryers'."

"A way to dry hair after washing it? That would be a convenient thing to have after taking a bath. ...Anyway, I'm sure you didn't come in here to talk about hair dryers. What can we do for you?"

"I came in to let you know the door to the yard is currently unlocked, in case you would like to spend some time there."

Leena and Serge looked out the window at the dreary sky. Leena said, "I don't know... it doesn't look like the best of days for spending time outside. Still, I suppose it might be nice to get a little bit of fresh air – we haven't been outside since the sack race, and that was... how long ago? It's hard to keep track of what day it is in here."

"The sack race was eight days ago," Robo informed her.

"Eight days...?" Leena said in an uncertain voice. "Are you sure? It feels like it's been a lot longer than that."

"I am sure."

"Huh. I guess it's because we've done so many dares and challenges, and still had so much time with nothing to do. ...Of course, even if it has been only eight days, that's still a long time to go without any fresh air. Come on." She headed to the door to the yard, and Robo and Serge followed her.

Leena took a deep breath of the fresh air as soon as she crawled through the door. "Ah, that's nice." She then moved aside to let the other two out.

Leena crawled over to the lounge chair; Serge sat at the picnic table. They sat around enjoying the fresh air for a while, occasionally talking about some random thing, but mostly just sitting in a comfortable silence.

o-o-o-o

"And then this little kid came running down the mountain, chased by a bunch of monsters!" Marle said with a laugh. "Of course, we stepped in and saved him. He had had enough of the mountain, though, and ran off home."

"How random," Harle commented.

"Actually, it wasn't so random, as I'll get to shortly. Even so, the fact that we happened to reach the base of the mountain just as the kid was being chased off of it still amazes me."

o-o-o-o

Leena shivered a bit. "What a chilly day. Let's go back in, Serge."

Serge nodded, and the two left their seats and began crawling to the door. As they passed Robo, Leena told him, "We've had enough for now; its just too cold and dreary out today."

Robo nodded and asked curiously, "What are you two planning on doing now?"

Leena shrugged. "I don't know. It feels like since we just got the Skeleton key, we ought be spending more time going to the places we couldn't before. But we've already spent time in the Hot Tub and Yard. The only other thing the skeleton key lets us do is go in the Gray Room without permission, but that seems a bit rude, and I don't know what the point would be. So I guess we're just going to go back to the Red Room and hang out there."

Serge nodded, but now that he thought of it, checking out the Gray Room was rather tempting. He wasn't sure why he wanted to go in there when the Gray Team wasn't there – just because he could, he supposed.

Robo was disappointed to learn that Serge and Leena planned to return to the Red Room. He had hoped to allow Crono and Lucca more time together than this. He considered encouraging them to check out the Gray Room; however he suspected neither Kid nor Marle would be happy to have someone in their apartment without permission. This did, however, bring to mind another possible means of delaying Serge and Leena's return to the Red Room.

"If your main concern about visiting the Gray Room is that you do not have their permission to do so, you could go visit the Gray Team and ask for permission," he suggested.

Leena thought about it, then shook her head. "I think that would still be a little bit rude. And even if they did give their permission, what would we do in there?"

Serge and Robo both tried to come up with some reason to visit the Gray room other than idle curiosity.

When the first thing that came to Serge's mind was that there might be some hidden treasure there, he realized that his desire to check it out was at least partially a leftover habit from his adventuring days. He had to remind himself that any "treasure" in there would be the property of the Gray Team, and that the members of the team were his friends and wouldn't look too kindly on him taking their stuff. However, even after reminding himself of this, he still wanted to look around in there. Trying to get her interested in the idea, he asked, "Wouldn't you like to see what it's like to be in the Gray Room without the Gray Team in there?"

Leena rolled her eyes. "I'm sure it would be like being in any other large room without any people in it," she pointed out.

Returning to his brainstorming, Serge next thought of sparring in there. Back in the first few days of their stay in the Funhouse he and a few of the others had done some sparring in there; and with the dungeon currently occupied it would probably be better to do their sparring somewhere other than in the dungeon. However, Leena wasn't a big fan of sparring; pretty much the only time she did it was when the entire Red Team did a joint training session.

Unable to come up with any other ideas, Serge decided that rather than try and convince Leena to go explore the Gray Room with him, he might as well just go without her later.

Robo had been similarly unsuccessful in his attempt to come up with a reason for Serge and Leena to visit the Gray Room, so he moved on to his next idea for delaying them. "If you do not wish to visit the Gray Room, perhaps you might like to visit the Library? I always find inputting data to be an enjoyable way to pass the time."

Leena said, "Reading sounds like a good idea, but I already have some books I've borrowed in the Red Room. What about you, Serge?"

Serge nodded. "I still have some too."

"I see." Robo's mind raced, as he tried to think of some other way to delay Serge and Leena. However, short of physical force (which was inappropriate for the situation) he couldn't think of anything with much chance of working. Conceding defeat, he told them, "I hope you enjoy your reading, then. I shall be out here for a bit longer, if you need me."

"Okay then," Leena said, and she Serge crawled across the lawn to the door. Idly, Robo noted that they had become quite skilled at moving around in their merperson tails; their crawling now came naturally without any significant awkwardness, and they could crawl almost as fast as one would walk.

Robo hoped that if Crono and Lucca had moved beyond sitting together, they had thought to move to the bedroom first, or were prepared to tell the others about their relationship...

o-o-o-o

Lucca moaned in pleasure as she and Crono mashed their lips together passionately. Their hands wandered up and down each other's bodies, exploring and caressing, but not lingering anywhere.

They were both lying on the couch, Lucca on top of Crono. Both of their vests (and cowboy hats) had been discarded, and Lucca's shirt was only held closed by a couple of buttons. As Crono had not been wearing a shirt, all of Lucca's caressing above the waist met with bare skin.

Crono ran his hands along her stomach, and up her ribs, under the shirt. To continue any further he had to pull his hands out from under her shirt, which he found a bit annoying. So far Lucca had been leading for the most part – she had been the one to start kissing him, to pull off their vests, and to undo the first few buttons of her shirt. Crono wasn't sure how far she planned on going, but considering the passion that she was brining to their activities, he doubted she would mind going a little farther, so he took the liberty of undoing the last two buttons on her shirt.

Lucca's eyes widened, and she pulled away, covering her chest with one arm while holding herself up with the other. She turned her head away from him, and under her latex mask she blushed. In a quiet, uncertain voice, she said, "C-crono... Are you sure you w-want to go this far...?"

Crono blinked. He was shocked at how quickly she'd shifted from seductive and demanding to meek and uncertain. Still, at least she wasn't angry.

Crono took a minute to carefully think how to answer her. Finally, he said, "I don't think I'm ready for sex yet, but so long as we both keep our pants – or tails – on, I'm willing to go however far you want to go. Did you not want to go this far?"

Lucca slowly turned her head to face him; he couldn't see it thanks to the lenses of her cyborg costume's eyes, but she still had a hard time looking him in the eye. "I... Of course I want to go this far, I was just worried about you!" She tried to sound offended that he would think she wasn't ready to let him see her in just a bra, and as a show of courage she sat up (which resulted in her sitting on his legs, but she was light enough that he didn't mind), pulled off her shirt, tossed it on the floor, and sat there thrusting her bra-covered breasts out at him defiantly.

Crono knew that her bravery was an act, but he couldn't help but smile at the sight of her clad only in her mermaid tail, black lace bra, and "cybernetic" eye-pieces.

Seeing his smile and his eyes roaming over her body gave her mixed feelings. She felt very embarrassed and self-conscious, and had to fight not to cover herself back up. However, it also felt very encouraging to know he felt her body worth admiring like that, and her quickly returning lust felt this to be a very good development. She gave a tentative smile, even as her face grew quite hot under her mask.

Still, she knew she wasn't ready for more than this, and wasn't really ready for even showing him this much. Of course, this wasn't the first time he'd seen her without a shirt – she had taken it off during the game of "Strip Trivia"; however she'd been wearing a more conservative bra that day, and had been more focused on the game then on who was looking at her.

Desperately, she tried to come up with an excuse for putting her shirt back on that wouldn't require admitting she'd made a mistake in taking it off. Seizing on one possible excuse, she said, "You know, maybe this isn't fair to Marle. I mean, she's stuck in the Dungeon, and here we are not only making out, but even taking clothes off. I wouldn't want her to think I'm taking advantage of her being locked up to do things with you she hasn't had the chance to yet!"

Crono stared into her eye-pieces for a moment, trying to decide what to say to that. Finally, he decided to tell her the truth. He gulped, then said, "Actually, Marle and I have gone farther than this. She let me see her with her shirt off... And I, er... played with her breasts a bit..." He actually blushed a bit while admitting to that last part.

"_WHAT?!_" Lucca shrieked. Crono winced at the volume. "That... that... _girl... _She went and let you play with her tits without discussing it with me first?!"

Crono blinked, both at her language, and at the idea behind her exclamation. "She needs your permission? Did you get permission from her to take off your shirt in front of me? Who's trying to date who here?"

Lucca scowled, and said in a flat voice, "In order to make our competition fair, and prevent either from trying to win you over with sex, we should have set some limits to make sure neither me nor Marle went farther with you than the other one was willing to go." Starting to sound a bit frustrated, she continued, "I didn't bring it up with her because I assumed none of us would go as far as taking off clothing before you chose one of us. Obviously, I was wrong about that, for all of us."

Crono was trying to decide if he should mention that the incident with Marle was before Lucca admitted her feelings for him, when the door burst open.

"Lucca, are you alright? We heard... you... yelling..." Leena said, trailing off as what she was seeing registered. Both couples stared at each other in shock for a moment. Serge was the first to recover, looking away just before Leena turned her attention to him to make sure he wasn't staring at Lucca. Around the same time Lucca covered her chest as best she could with her arms.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Lucca asked irritably.

Leena shot back, "This is our room too, you know. If you two were going play around like that, you should have at least done it in the bedroom, with a sign warning people not to come in. Better yet, you should have waited until you were out of the Funhouse – this place doesn't exactly have much for private places."

Lucca laughed nervously, as she slid off the couch and grabbed her shirt from the floor. As Lucca put the shirt back on, Leena added, "And I can't believe you two would betray Marle's trust like this. I thought you were her friend, Lucca! And I never would have thought you the type to cheat on your girlfriend, Crono!"

Crono, who was now sitting up, scratched the back of his head nervously. Lucca handed him his vest and hat, and he put them on.

Serge glanced over at Crono and Lucca, and seeing it was safe to look relaxed a bit.

Putting on her own vest and hat, Lucca said, "It's not like that. We are friends – all three of us. But Marle and Crono aren't a couple, at least not yet. And since we're both interested in him, Marle and I agreed to compete with each other for Crono's heart."

Crono got down off the couch, and picked up his graphic novels, which had fallen to the floor when he and Lucca has started making out. Luckily, they seemed undamaged.

"His heart?" Leena said with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes, his heart. Crono and I just got a little carried away expressing our affection."

"You certainly did!" Leena said skeptically, "I'm having a hard time believing in this arrangement between you and Marle. I mean, it was pretty obvious when we started this game that Crono and Marle were a couple, at least unofficially. And how is it that I've never heard about this arrangement before?"

Crono looked back and forth between the two of them, and frowned.

"So we didn't tell everyone personally," Lucca said, her voice raised in irritation. "It's not like we intentionally kept it a secret! Heck, Kid and Harle were there when I told Marle about my first kiss with Crono!"

Crono discretely made his way into the bedroom, taking his graphic novels with him; Lucca and Leena didn't even notice him leaving.

"So you let them know, but not me?" Leena said, sounding hurt.

"I guess. Why do you care?" Lucca said, a bit of confusion mixed with her irritation.

Deciding Crono had the right idea, Serge quietly opened the door and slipped out.

Only half aware of Serge's departure, Leena said in a tone of heated disappointment, "We haven't known each other for long, but I had thought we had become relatively good friends during that time. If your relationship with Crono wasn't a secret, you should have been able to tell me about it."

Lucca opened her mouth to reply, then realized she didn't know what to say. She had never had many friends – prior to their trip through time Crono had really been the only one outside of her family. She also had never had a boyfriend before. So it hadn't even occurred to her she might want to talk about her relationship with anybody, let alone that someone might be offended she didn't talk with them about it.

Lucca closed her mouth, as she tried to figure out how to respond.

o-o-o-o

"Frog let us have the second half of the Masamune, but told us it was still hopeless because there weren't any smiths around that could fix the sword. But then we noticed these runes on the blade... Robo examined them, and translated them for us."

Frog cleared his throat (in a croak-like way). "Methought 'twas Lady Lucca who translated the runes upon the blade."

Marle frowned. "No, I'm pretty sure it was Robo. I remember it because he read it backwards at first."

"I do not recall that." Frog said, frowning himself.

Marle shook her head. "Anyway, the runes spelled out a name: 'Melchior'. Hoping to find out what his name was doing on an ancient sword, we headed to the present to go speak with Melchior..."

Harle held up a hand. "'Old on a moment. Frog, did you not say you would tell more of your story when Marle got to ze spot where you met again?"

Frog croaked. "Indeed. Although there is little to tell. After mine departure from Guardia, I spent some time wandering the southern continent, fighting Magus' troops. However, I still felt ashamed of my failure, and unworthy of the Hero's Medal I bore. One day when visiting a bar in Porre, my melancholy overtook me, and I cast the Hero's Medal aside and departed for the deep woods to dwell amongst the frogs – my own kind, as it were."

"But, how did you get ze 'ero's medal in ze first place? And what of ze shard of ze Masamune zat you possessed?"

Frog paused, then slowly raised one brow. "Now that, Lady Harle, is a tale. And a not particularly happy one..."

o-o-o-o

Ayla frowned as she pulled her mermaid tail on. She really hated having to have her legs confined like this. She also realized she had been in the hot tub too long, as her body was really hot; this fact made having to wear the mermaid tail even more uncomfortable. Still, it wasn't so bad as to be worth loosing the dare over, so she'd just have to bear it.

She put on the rest of her costume, grabbed the Skeleton Key, and headed out into the hall. She glanced around, and saw Serge heading down the hall from the Dare Room. Curious, she headed over to meet him.

"What Serge doing?" Ayla asked when she had nearly reached him.

"I was thinking of looking around the Gray Room; last I heard you had the Skeleton key."

Ayla nodded, and handed him the key. She glanced out at the yard, trying to decide if she wanted to spend some more time out there or go with Serge. She noticed that Robo was still out in the yard, though he didn't appear to be doing anything as far as she could see. She turned back to Serge and told him, "Leave door unlocked. Maybe Ayla go there later."

Serge nodded, then headed back down the hall.

Ayla headed out into the yard, the cool air feeling good on her hot skin. She crawled over to Robo, then cocked her head curiously at his still form. "What Robo do?"

Robo's eyes flickered for a moment, then he turned and looked down at her. "Greetings, Mistress Ayla. I was processing the information from a book I scanned earlier. I apologize for not responding to you sooner; I was processing a very interesting part."

"No apologize, Ayla no mind." After a slight pause, she asked, "Robo always thinking about books when stand around doing nothing?"

"Negative. Often times I am thinking about other things. And sometimes I think of nothing at all."

"Robo stand there, do nothing, think nothing? Robo no get bored?"

"Negative. I do not find the lack of mental or physical activity unpleasant. If I have nothing to think about, I accept that and do not think about anything, just as if I have nothing to do, I accept that and do nothing."

"Ayla wish Ayla could be like that. Make long wait easy, like when left at End of Time."

"Yes. However, it is rare I have nothing to think about. So long as one is learning or experiencing new things, there are always new things to think about, and even when one is doing nothing new and there is nothing new to think, thinking about old things can often lead to new understanding."

Ayla inclined her head, then laid down, enjoying the cool grass on her back. "So, when standing doing nothing, what Robo think about?"

o-o-o-o

"Look, it's not that I couldn't tell you, or even that I didn't want to. It just never occurred to me."

Leena glared at her, and repeated dryly, "It never occurred to you."

"Look, I don't understand why you're so upset. Yes, I suppose we are friends – but I didn't think that meant I had to tell you every little thing that goes on in my life!"

"Little?! You call starting a relationship a little thing? And not just any relationship, but one where you and another girl are competing over the same guy while both dating him?"

Lucca put her fingers to her goggles for a moment, then said, "Technically speaking, we're not dating... I mean none of us have been on any actual dates..."

"And yet you thought nothing of taking off your shirt in front of him! Unless you were lying about being after his heart."

"I told you, we got carried away! I didn't mean to go that far!" Lucca threw her arms up in the air in exasperation.

Leena frowned. After taking a moment to let herself calm down, she said, "Well you should be more careful then. If you go too far too soon you could really hurt Marle – or your chances with Crono if you go faster than he likes. ...Anyway, what does Marle think about all this? I really have a hard time believing she's okay with this setup..."

Lucca frowned. "Well, she wasn't happy with it at first... She thought she had already won his heart – heck, after hearing that in this timeline they got married, she was starting to act like them getting together was destined. ...Which is kind of odd considering that there are a lot of things about this timeline that we don't like, and defying destiny is what we **do. **But anyway, she seems to have accepted it, and overall it doesn't seem to have hurt our friendship, at least not too much..."

Leena crawled over to the couch. "I'm surprised. Most girls would consider trying to steal her guy something worth ending a friendship over."

Lucca frowned. "I hadn't considered that." After thinking about it for a moment she said, "I guess I was lucky." She sighed. "Interacting with people can be so complicated some times."

o-o-o-o

Serge looked around the main room of the Gray Room. It looked the same as ever, but not having anyone else in it made it feel empty and abandoned. Of course, when he had been in here before he had usually been doing something with someone (such a sparring), so he had never really had a chance to look around at things that closely; he now took the time to do so.

Crawling around the corner, he looked over their bathroom. He mused that it must be pretty awkward having the bathroom open to the main Gray Room, even if the toilet and shower were in stalls and out of view.

He crawled over to the "kitchen" cabinets and refrigerator, and out of curiosity looked in them at the Gray Team's food & dishes. Their supply of dishes and selection of snack food was about the same as the Red Team's, though there was less food left since the Gray Team usually had to use it for meals.

He felt sorry for the Gray Team – they got the less comfortable apartment, and most of what they'd had to eat for the past two weeks was junk food. All things considered it was amazing they were all still fighting so hard to stay in the game.

After satisfying himself that he'd seen all there was to see in the main room, he took a quick look around the bedroom as well. There were no dressers or closets, so everyone's packs were still full, and set up near their beds. Near the closest bed was a rather fancy golden-tan pack that had seen better days. Near the middle bed was a sturdy but extremely worn pack that had patches and other signs of having been repaired; Serge recognized it as Kid's. By the far bed was a simple, old-fashioned leather pack that like Kid's showed signs of repair; next to it was a colorful bag with frills on it which Serge suppose must be Harle's.

Resisting the urge to look in the packs for treasure, Serge headed back out to the hall. He didn't hear any shouting, so he opened the door to the Red Room carefully. Seeing Leena and Lucca sitting on the couch talking calmly, he headed in to get a book to read.

o-o-o-o

"So, you were once ze human soldier 'Glenn', and you were transformed into a frog by ze sorcerer known as Magus?"

Frog croaked. "Indeed."

"How fascinating. It must be scary yet exciting to be in a body odder zan ze one you were born in."

"I wouldst not use the word 'exiting', but yes, it was quite odd and rather frightening to find myself this way at first. I have since become accustomed to it however, and have even came to rather enjoy it... At least, most of the time."

Harle's eyes lost focus, and she said in a distant voice, "Sometimes I have a dream zat I have been transformed into a dragon. But I am not afraid because I know it is what I always truly waz inside..."

Harle shook her head and returned her focus to Marle. "Nevair mind. Marle, please do continue your story."

Marle blinked, then said, "Right. Where was I?"

"You were going to travel to ze present to consult with ze swordsmith Melchior about ze Masamune."

"Oh, yeah. So, we did that. He wouldn't explain why his name was on the sword, but he did say he could repair the sword if he had some Dreamstone. The only problem was, he also told us that there wasn't any Dreamstone any more, and there hadn't been any around for thousands of years.

"Luckily, since we could travel through time, that wasn't a problem."

Meanwhile in the adjacent cell Kid was coming to the conclusion she was going to need to use the "facilities" (such as they were) before the afternoon was over. Although she wasn't exactly happy about the idea, she also realized there was nothing to gain from delaying it. Catching Frog's eye, she motioned for him to look away, figuring that if she didn't say anything out loud no one but him would have to know.

When she was done (including cleaning up as best she could with straw, which she then dumped down the drain), she moved back to the corner of the cell where she could hear best. She rapped on the bars loud enough to get Frog's attention but not enough to interrupt Marle. When Frog glanced in her direction, she nodded, then settled down to listen to Marle's tale.

"Suddenly, this muscular girl in a fur bikini charged in out of nowhere and started beating the Reptites up! After defeating them all, she rushed us and I thought for sure we were goners... But instead of hitting us, she pushed Crono against a wall and hugged him! I guess she must have seen us fighting the first two groups of Reptites, because she told him she liked how strong he was.

"When I complained about the way she was hanging all over him, she told me not to be jealous – she liked me too!" Marle blushed a bit.

Harle speculated, "Do you suppose she wanted a – ow you say, threesome?"

Marle rolled her eyes. "Or a foursome. But I don't think she was serious about it - it turned out she already had a boyfriend who didn't like to share, and I don't think she was planning on cheating on him. I think she was just flirting."

Harle raised an eyebrow. "One never knows."

Marle shrugged. "Even if she was offering, none of us were interested. ...Anyway, that's how we met Ayla."

o-o-o-o

When a light drizzle began to fall, Ayla and Robo decided it was time to head in. In the Red Room they found Crono, Lucca, Leena, and Serge sitting down on the couch reading. Serge and Leena were sitting on one side of the couch, with Leena leaning on Serge a bit (Serge didn't look entirely comfortable, but Leena hadn't noticed). Crono and Lucca were sitting together on the other side of the couch, cuddled together.

Ayla cocked her head. "Crono and Lucca couple now?"

Crono and Lucca looked up at Ayla, only now realizing Ayla had came in. They both sat up, looking a bit guilty. Lucca answered, "Um. sort of..."

"Marle know this?" There was no accusation to her tone.

"Yes. Um, she and Crono are still together, too, for now. We're kind of trying to decide which one of us should be with him. It's... complicated." Lucca looked down, feeling embarrassed and ashamed, despite having told herself countless times there was nothing wrong with what they were doing.

Ayla smiled. "Marle, Lucca should both be with Crono. Make good group."

Everyone stared at Ayla in shock.

Deciding the conversation was over, Ayla turned to Serge. "Serge leave Gray Room door unlocked? Ayla go look around Gray Room now."

Serge nodded, and Ayla crawled over to the door and left before anyone could think of anything to say.

Finally, Lucca shook her head. "I don't know if it's her time period, or if she's just that crazy." She turned to Crono. "You'd better not be considering her suggestion. I have no intention of being part of a harem."

Crono gave her a reassuring smile. He was pretty sure neither girl would go for the idea, so he didn't bother mentioning that he actually rather liked it. All three of them were already such close friends, and since he had started relationships with them he had gotten even closer to both of them. If they made their current arrangement permanent, he wouldn't have to give up his closeness to one of them. It was just too bad it would never work.

o-o-o-o

Ayla sighed and laid down on her back on the floor of the Gray Room. She still wished her team had chosen this room – in the Red Room she always felt cramped and closed in, but this room had enough space for her to stretch her arms.

Ayla frowned and sat up. The one problem with the Gray Room was that the bare stone floor was cold.

_To Be Continued..._

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Author's Notes:

The name "Manolia" (or "Manoria") for the Cathedral and the fact that Lucca was drunk at Ayla's party are based on the original Japanese version of Chrono Trigger (the use of an "l" rather than an "r" in Manolia was based on the DS translation). This is a bit unusual for me, as for the most part this story is based on the original English translation seen in the Super NES and Playstation versions.

The theory of time travel mentioned in this chapter is based on an article I read at the Chrono Compendium, "Principles of Time and Dimensional Travel" (particularly the "Time Traveler's Immunity" and "Time Bastard" sections). That Marle's disappearance does not fit with this theory was also mentioned in this article (under "The Marle Paradox") along with the suggestion that the Entity might have been involved in the incident.

Finally, if Marle's story in this chapter doesn't always exactly match the game, keep in mind that it's been several months since these events for Marle, and that people don't always remember things exactly. Also, in some cases she's trying to put herself and her actions in the best possible light. (An error on my part, on the other hand, is of course impossible... ;p )


	23. Episode Seventeen Part 3

Author's Note: Another chapter within the space of a week? What madness is this?! ...Well, don't expect a repeat performance; I happened to have this chapter mostly written before I put the finishing touches on the previous chapter, but I've barely begun the next chapter.

By the way, along with this chapter I am posting a revised version of Episode 9 (Chapter 11). The revision includes a corrected scoreboard, formatting changes, and some changes of phrasing and other minor details.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

by Chronos Cat

Episode 17, Chapter 3

Round 5 Part 1 Continued

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In the Funhouse Dungeon, Marle continued her tale of her adventures through time with Crono, Lucca, and the others. "So Melchior, Lucca, and Robo went down into Melchior's basement with the Masamune shards and the Dreamstone to reforge the Masamune. Crono and I watched parts of it, but I couldn't really follow it. It took quite a while, but finally they brought the sword back upstairs, good as new.

"We headed back to the Middle Ages and showed the sword to Frog. He didn't seem sure about using it himself yet, but he agreed to help us fight Magus. We headed over to this cliff we had heard about that supposedly had a hidden passage Magus' troops were using to get to and from the Mystics' island.

"We couldn't find the passage at first, but then Frog demanded the Masamune, and... Well it was pretty amazing. He held it up and light shone from it up into the sky. Then he leaped at the cliff and swung the Masamune, and this huge crack opened up in the cliff side, revealing a cave.

"We headed down into the cave and knew right away we were in the right place, because we were attacked by rats and bats that were almost completely immune to our weapons – we had to use magic to defeat them." Marle paused. "Frog was pretty impressed by our magic and asked how we had learned it... Which reminded us that he **didn't **know magic, which was going to be a problem. So we took him all the way back north to Truce Canyon and to the End of Time so Spekkio could teach him."

o-o-o-o

When Ayla got back from the Gray Room, she tried to convince her teammates to do some more sparring, but they had had enough for the day. "Besides," Lucca pointed out, "it's almost supper time."

Supper was the same as usual for the Red Team. However, for the Gray Team...

o-o-o-o

"And then Frog called him 'Sir Slush'!" Marle giggled.

Frog frowned. "Please Marle, do not spread such tales. Wouldst an honorable warrior such as myself insult a worthy opponent in such a way?"

Just then Piette came in and walked over to the cells. "Okay, jailbirds, it's supper time." Behind him holding trays of food were Donald and Annette, two members of the Funhouse staff who usually handled the laundry but also sometimes helped out around the kitchen. Piette held up a small bottle. "I have some hand sanitizer here for anyone who wants to clean their hands before they eat."

Everyone chose to use the sanitizer (even if most of them hadn't relieved themselves yet, Marle and Harle had been digging through hay and Frog had been trudging through the Funhouse's underground waterways earlier).

Donald and Annette then passed the trays through slots at the bottom of the cell doors. Each "prisoner" got a tray with a piece of toast, a glass of water, a spoon, and a bowl of something gray and lumpy.

Marle frowned at the meal. "Just what is this?"

Annette said cheerfully, "Toast, Water, and Oatmeal. Chronos wanted traditional fare for prisoners of an old-fashioned dungeon, but Orcha didn't have any stale bread crust, and didn't want to make gruel, so he improvised."

Marle hesitantly took a spoonful of the gray stuff. "Blech! You didn't mention it was plain. Don't you have any honey or sugar or maybe cinnamon to flavor it with?"

Donald said, "The blandness of the meal is part of the penalty for loosing the Team Challenge."

Kid scoffed. "Penalty? If you ask me, this is a reward! Finally, healthy food!"

o-o-o-o

After supper, Lucca took Robo aside.

"You heard earlier when I told Ayla about how Marle and I are trying to figure out which one of us should be with Crono?" It was a rhetorical question; he had been standing not far from Ayla when Lucca had told her.

Robo nodded.

"You don't have a problem with it, do you?"

Robo shook his head. "Of course not. This is a personal matter between you, Marle, and Crono. It would not be my place to form an opinion on the matter."

Lucca gave a slight sigh, followed by an equally slight smirk. "Of course not. You're programmed to be polite, after all." She shook her head, and said quietly, "I don't know why I was worried."

"I would guess that it was because I am your friend, and my opinions matter to you."

"I... Yeah, I guess so. ...Of course, I'm starting to realize I don't know as much about how to be a friend as I thought. I'm sorry for not telling you about this before."

"It is alright." After a slight pause, Robo put his hand lightly on Lucca's shoulder.

Lucca looked up at Robo, a surprised expression on her face. "That's new. I guess I'm not the only one learning about human interaction, huh?"

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile in the Dungeon, after the Gray Team had finished eating and the staff had taken their dishes away, Marle returned to telling her story.

She had just gotten to the encounter with Flea, when Harle interrupted her. "Excuse moi."

"What is it?"

Harle stepped over to the drain. "I just though I should warn you I need to, how you say, 'relieve myself'?"

As Harle's hands moved towards her pants, Marle asked, "Do you want me to sit between you and the door, so Frog can't see?"

Harle waved the offer away. "Zank you, but zere is no need. I do not care what odders see, and if Frog does not want to see he can look away or close his eyes easily enough."

"Right," Marle said, looking away before she saw something she didn't want to. Across the hallway, Frog had closed his eyes, for similar reasons.

Her eyes glued to the ventilation shaft on the ceiling above the bench, Marle commented, "You certainly aren't big on modesty!"

"Of course not. Why should I be?"

After Harle had finished, Marle decided she might as well go too. She had Harle sit between her and the door looking away from her even though Harle didn't see the point and Frog was keeping his eyes firmly shut.

When Marle was done (including cleaning up), Marle once again returned to to her tale.

"And then Flea screamed out 'I am a guy!' and said something about how power is beautiful and she had the power. Or he had it... Whatever. I still have a hard time believing he was a guy – he didn't look anything like one."

Frog pointed out, "Things are not always as they appear to be on the surface. Or hast thou forgotten mine own history?"

"So what, are you saying Flea was transformed by magic?"

Frog croaked. "It is possible – he was a master of magic, after all. However, I suspect he used more mundane means to alter his appearance. Dost thou recall that item of his we recovered, the 'Flea Vest'?"

"Yeah. Come to think of it, isn't it proof Flea was a girl? Or at least had a girl's body? I mean, it had a built-in bra!"

"A brassiere which retained its shape even when not worn," Frog pointed out.

"Okay, I suppose a guy could use something like that to make it look like he had breasts," Marle conceded. "But Flea was showing cleavage! How could a fancy vest give him cleavage?!" Marle argued.

Harle shook her head. "Alzough zis is quite fascinating, I zink I would prefer to hear more of your story."

Marle blinked. "What? ...Oh. Right. My story..." Marle scratched her head sheepishly.

o-o-o-o

"You know, I think maybe we should go visit Marle," Lucca told Crono. "And the rest of the Gray Team too, I guess." The Red Team was hanging out in the Red Room, killing time.

Robo nodded. "It would be polite to do so. Would you mind if I joined you?"

"No, that's fine."

"Ayla come too!" Ayla chimed in.

Leena said, "Great. That will give me and Serge some time alone together."

Serge said sheepishly, "Actually, I was thinking of going too."

"What? ...Oh, well I suppose Robo's right, that would be the polite thing to do. I guess I'll come along too." She wasn't about to let Serge spend time around Kid without her if she could help it - although Serge and Kid had more or less behaved so far, she still felt like Kid was a threat to her relationship with Serge.

And so the entire Red Team headed over to the dungeon.

o-o-o-o

The Gray Team was pleasantly surprised when the Red Team showed up.

"What're all of you doin' here?" Kid wondered.

"We come visit!" Ayla explained.

Marle said, "Wow, I had hoped some of you might stop by, but I never guessed you'd all come!"

Crono, Lucca, Serge, Leena, and Robo all said polite greetings to each of the Gray Team, then Crono and Lucca started chatting with Marle, while Serge kept Kid company and Leena kept watch on the two of them.

"The rest of the Red Team know that we're both competing over Crono," Lucca told Marle quietly. "They just found out a little bit before Supper; Leena wasn't happy I hadn't told her sooner."

Marle raised an eyebrow. "You were keeping it a secret?"

"Not really. I just hadn't thought to tell anyone. Why, you weren't?"

"Well, I didn't go around announcing it to everyone either, but I did talk with Kid about it. She was kinda upset about it at first, you know."

"Really? How come? It's not like she's interested in Crono."

Marle shook her head. "She heard stories about us growing up - including the wedding between me and Crono. Even though she knew that wedding hasn't happened yet for us, she still assumed it was inevitable. So to her it felt like Crono was cheating on me with you. And since you're like a mother to her..."

"Well, I can sort of see how that might bother her a little, but still, you did agree to it..."

"I didn't think you'd have a chance," Marle admitted. "When I found out you two had been kissing behind my back, I was pretty upset. ...And that was when Kid found out about our agreement..."

"Oh..."

Meanwhile, Serge was talking with Kid. "So, how are you doing?"

"Not bad. As far as prisons go, this one's pretty tame. The accommodations are a little sparse, but they're clean. The food's bland but a lot more healthy than what we've been eatin' in the Gray Room. And I haven't even had a chance to be bored - Marle's been tellin' Harle about her adventures in time, and Frog and I've been listenin' in. She tells it a bit different from the way Sis used ta tell it - not as accurate, but more emotion ta it... And more humor!"

Meanwhile, Ayla had decided to spread the latest gossip. "Frog know Marle and Lucca fighting over Crono?"

Frog croaked. "Indeed? I was not aware of this. However, now that thou mentioneth it, it doest explain certain encounters between them I hath witnessed."

"Ayla think Marle, Lucca should stop fighting, and share Crono. Would make good family."

"Lady Ayla, such arrangements are frowned upon in their era - and mine as well," Frog protested.

"No like family in future?"

"Not ones in which the husband hast more than one wife."

"Why not?"

Frog opened his mouth then hesitated as he realized he had no idea why such arrangements were frowned upon - he just knew that they were. Finally he settled on saying, "'Tis tradition."

If Ayla hadn't been made aware of time travel, she would have accepted that answer - there were plenty of traditions in Ioka that people just accepted as the way things had always been. However, knowing that this was the future, she had to ask, "Where tradition come from? No that way in Ayla's time."

Frog helplessly shook his head and shrugged.

Robo spoke up. "Although no one knows with certainty where or when the tradition of discouraging non-monogamous relationships began, it is possible to speculate as to why." Robo then launched into a long drawn out explanation involving social interaction, economics, gender roles, and religion. Frog found it very hard to follow and rather boring, but Ayla listened intently, often stopping Robo to ask the meaning of some new word.

After a little while Ayla realized that they could have this conversation later, when the team was back in the Red Room. She told Robo to finish explaining it to her later, and went over to say hello to Harle and see how she was doing. Robo tried to make small talk with Frog, but they couldn't think of much to say, so Robo wound up just standing around waiting for the others.

Before too long Marle and Lucca got done talking. Lucca and Crono went over to see how Kid was doing, and joined in on her conversation with Serge. Ayla meanwhile expanded her conversation to include Marle as well.

Before long Ayla brought up the idea of Marle and Lucca sharing Crono again (this time she used a word she had picked up from Robo, 'harem').

Marle glanced over at Lucca, who was talking with Kid. "I... don't think I want to share Crono," Marle said hesitantly. With more conviction she said, "And my father would definitely disapprove."

After about ten minutes, Ayla, Marle, and Harle's conversation died down, and Ayla had Robo continue his explanation as to why polygamy was no longer socially acceptable. After another fifteen minutes Lucca and Serge's conversation with Kid reached its end. Lucca got Ayla and Robo's attention and let them know it was time to leave, then everyone said their goodbyes and the Red Team headed back to the Red Room.

"So, where were we again?" Marle asked Harle.

o-o-o-o

Tears came to Harle's eyes when Marle told of how Azala refused Ayla's help and stayed behind at the Tyrano Fortress, knowing and accepting that the time of the Reptites was at an end.

"And then the red star fell like a shooting star, and smashed into the Tyrano fortress, making this huge red explosion, and a deafening boom. When the fireball faded away, tons of smoke and ash rose up into the sky, turning it dark. And when enough of the smoke had cleared that we could see, where the Tyrano Fortress had once stood there was just this huge crater."

Harle whispered, "And thus ended a world..."

o-o-o-o

The Red Team spent the rest of the evening talking and reading. They went to bed between ten-thirty and eleven; as usual Leena, Lucca and Serge each took a bed, Ayla took the chair in the main room and Crono the couch, and Robo stood in the bedroom thinking rather than sleeping.

In the dungeon there was no outside light and no way of telling the time, but eventually the prisoners found themselves getting tired. As Marle was now telling about her adventures in the Kingdom of Zeal, Kid found herself torn between listening and going to sleep. However, eventually sleep overcame her.

Marle and Harle remained awake a while longer, caught up in Marle's recounting of her adventures in time.

"Taking up most of the room was this big machine. I don't really -" Marle yawned, "- know how to describe it... A lot of silver and white metal. It didn't have any wings or wheels, and it had a big hole in the middle of it. Then the Nu came along, pushing a set of three seats. He pushed it up to the machine and made some connections, and the seats slid into place in the hole.

"He asked us to name it... We decided on the 'Epoch'. Then he explained the controls, and we all climbed on board. Crono set the dial for 1000 AD, just to test it out. Then he pushed the launch button, and the world stretched and shifted around us, and for a few moments it seemed like the Epoch was shooting through a tunnel of fire, and us with it.

"Then there was a flash of light, and the Epoch was sitting in a field on the southern continent in the present day." Marle yawned again. "And that's how we got a time machine."

"Fantastique." Harle found herself yawning as well. "I assume you next headed for ze Kingdom of Zeal, to deal wit zis Prophet and to stop zem from abusing ze power of Lavos."

"Pretty much. I mean, we traveled to a few other time periods just to test the machine out. But yeah, the next important thing we -" Marle yawned yet again. "- did was go back to Zeal."

Harle nodded. "I would love to hear ze tale. But perhaps zat should wait for tomorrow? I am finding myself growing quite tired."

"Yeah, me too."

After a short discussion, Marle decided to sleep in the straw, and Harle on the bench.

When they had settled down and seemed to have drifted off, Frog got up. He had yet to relive himself since being put back in the dungeon after failing the Challenge, being too embarrassed to do so in front of anybody else (even though he was sure that if he asked everyone to look away they would have). After so long he was getting rather uncomfortable, but with the others asleep he finally felt he had enough privacy.

After taking care of his business, he settled in on his own bed of straw and headed off to sleep.

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* * *

* * *

_**Funhouse Day 17**_

* * *

Frog woke up well before the rest of the Gray Team, due to the straw scratching his sensitive frog-skin. He felt like it was early in the morning, but in the unchanging dim torch-light of the Dungeon, it was hard to tell.

He glanced over at the door to the Dungeon thinking to ask the guard the time. The guard on duty appeared to be Piette, however he was sitting on a stool, snoozing.

Frog settled down and tried to get comfortable, but finally realized it was a lost cause. He was still rather tired, so he moved over to the bench and lay down on it. It might be hard, but at least it wouldn't poke and irritate his skin.

After a while Frog drifted off.

o-o-o-o

Ayla woke up with the sun, and immediately headed out to the Yard. To her delight, the sky was clear for the first time in a while. She ran around (on hands and fish-tail) in the wet morning grass for a while.

Back in the Red Room, Lucca and Leena woke up sometime after Ayla left, and took their time getting ready for the day. At eight they woke up Crono and Serge, then headed for the cafeteria for breakfast. Ayla saw them in the halls, and joined them.

o-o-o-o

Kid was the next member of the Gray Team to wake up. She had been dreaming of her life in Zeal as Schala, and for a moment was a little disorientated by her surroundings. She remembered who and where she was quickly, but still found herself missing her old life, and her old family. Not for the first time she wondered if she should quit the Funhouse and go find Magus.

She thought about her past and her options for quite a while, until her musings were interrupted by two members of the kitchen staff coming in bearing trays much like the ones they had the night before. Annette was there again, this time accompanied by assistant-chef Carol.

"Breakfast time, everyone!" Carol called out.

"Already?" Kid wondered. The dim light made it seem like the middle of the night, and she was honestly surprised it was breakfast time.

In the adjacent cell Marle groaned. "I don't wanna get up..."

Harle walked by her to the door, and accepted the food trays from Annette. Meanwhile, across the hall Frog had roused himself, and gotten his tray from Carol. Carol then moved over to give her second tray to Kid.

In Marle and Harle's cell, Harle placed one of the trays down on the floor near Marle. "Time to wake up."

Marle opened her eyes slightly, and glanced around at the stone walls lit by firelight. "Where am I?" she asked sleepily.

"Ze dungeon of ze Funhouse," Harle said. "Do not tell me zat now it is you who have amnesia."

"What? Dungeon?" Marle opened her eyes wider, and sat up. "Oh, the Funhouse, right." She glanced over at the tray on the floor; just like the night before it had a slice of toast, a glass of water, and a bowl of oatmeal. "Great, more bland oatmeal," she complained.

Harle shrugged and walked back over to the bench and began eating.

o-o-o-o

After breakfast, the Red Team all headed out into the Yard to enjoy the sunny day. Ayla suggested they do some sparring, but Lucca felt it was too soon after eating. Instead, Lucca pulled out a book and was soon engrossed in it.

Leena scowled at Lucca. Lucca was her closest friend in the Red Team besides Serge, and the only one in the team she could really gossip with. Now what was she supposed to do with her time?

Leena glanced over at Crono and Serge. They were both looking at each other as if holding a conversation, but neither was saying a word. She glanced over to Robo. He was just standing there, apparently lost in his own world. She supposed she could try to start up a conversation with him, but what would she say?

Leena looked over at Ayla. Ayla was kneeling in the grass glancing around with an expression that suggested she was at just as much a loss as to what to do as Leena.

Leena crawled over to Ayla. After she had Ayla's attention, she glanced at Lucca then said, "She sure can get caught up in her books, can't she?"

Ayla nodded. "Ayla no understand why Lucca like books. Ayla understand how book useful – learn things from people not here, maybe even long dead. But Ayla no understand how reading book fun."

"Well, Lucca does love to learn things," Leena pointed out.

"True." Ayla conceded.

Leena added, "Personally, I could never get into those science books she likes to read. I don't really like to read, but if I'm going to read something I prefer a fast paced story with lots of romance."

"Story in book never be as good as story told by story-teller." Ayla commented.

"I never thought about that before," Leena admitted.

o-o-o-o

In the Dungeon, after they had finished eating, Harle asked Marle to continue her tale.

"So where was I?"

"You were just about to head back to Zeal using ze Epoch."

"Right. Well, that worked great – we reached the Dark Ages just as easy as traveling to any other era. We wound up on a snow-covered continent, not far from the portal, actually. But, when we went to the Skyway to travel up to Zeal, we found it wasn't working!

"We searched around a bit, and found that a ladder had been lowered in that one cave we'd been to before with all the roots. We climbed the ladder and went through a tunnel, and found ourselves in the underground village of Algetty."

o-o-o-o

After chatting a while, Leena decided to learn some more unarmed combat (she did enjoy hitting things with her plastic-encased arms). Before long, Crono and Serge decided to follow along as well.

"If Ayla going to teach all three of you, maybe should teach Robo and Lucca too? Save repeating self later."

Robo nodded. "You are correct, it would be a more efficient use of time." Robo walked over to join them.

Ayla looked over at Lucca, who was still engrossed in her book. "Lucca! Time train! Put book down!"

Lucca looked up, and saw the others all gathered around Ayla. "Does it have to be now? I'm at a really interesting part."

Considering that the title of the book was _"Enduring Mysteries in Quantum Physics"_ Leena guessed that only someone like Lucca would find any part of it an "interesting part".

Ayla put her hands on her hips. "Everyone else ready now. Read book later!"

Lucca sighed, and put a bookmark in the book. "Fine." She put the book down and crawled over to them.

o-o-o-o

"Crono struggled to his feet and limped towards Lavos... But then Lavos opened his mouth. This beam of light shot out of it at Crono... And Crono... Crono..." Marle got a lump in her throat, and couldn't continue.

Frog said quietly, but not so quietly Harle couldn't hear him, "Crono was engulfed in the light, and when the light faded all that remained of him were ashes."

"But, Crono iz alive," Harle said in confusion.

Marle explained, "That's only because we were able to use the Chrono Trigger to rescue him."

"Ze... 'Chrono Trigger'?" Harle wondered.

"It was a device Gaspar gave us later. It looked sort of like an egg, and let us open a gate through time and freeze time at the other end – but only once. But first I should tell you about the rest of our adventures in Zeal."

"Yes... You obviously were not strong enough to defeat Lavos at zis time – 'ow did you escape?"

"It was Schala. First she teleported all of us except Queen Zeal back to the Ocean Palace. Then she used the last of her strength to teleport us to the surface. She didn't have enough strength to save herself, though...

"We weren't entirely safe on the surface, either. I guess Lavos wasn't happy to be woken up, because he fired blasts of energy out of his back just like on the recording of the Day of Lavos and tore the islands of the Kingdom of Zeal apart. What was left fell out of the sky onto the land and the ocean, crushing things and creating huge tsunamis.

"I'm not quite sure what happened to us, but we woke up in a village built by the survivors, on one of the few large islands not flooded by the rising ocean."

"Ze rising ocean?"

"Yeah. I don't know if it was Lavos' blasts, the islands falling, or what, but the clouds finally broke up, and a lot of the snow and ice started to melt. I suppose the larger rocks falling on the land might have broken the land up and pushed it down below sea level, too. The point is, there wasn't much land left above water in the end."

"Hmm... And what of Schala? I take it she did not survive?"

Kid spoke up now. "Actually, I did survive. However for a long time I wished that I had not..."

"Wait," Harle said, puzzled. "You are Princess Schala of ze Kingdom of Zeal?"

In a regal tone, Kid answered, "That is a rather complicated question. Suffice it to say that I posses her memories..."

"It sounds to me zat your tale may be as interesting as Marle's."

"Probably more so. The difference is, I don't feel like tellin' mine."

o-o-o-o

After a while most of the Red Team decided it was time for a break. (Ayla was enjoying herself and didn't want to stop, while Robo didn't tire like the others; however they conceded to the wishes of the others.) Lucca decided to go back to her book, while Ayla decided to go for a swim.

After seeing Ayla swimming around using her mermaid tail, Crono decided he wanted to learn to swim like that too. He jumped in and did his best to mimic Ayla, though once she saw what he was doing she offered a few pointers.

Watching them, Leena sighed. "I wish I could go swimming right now."

"Why don't you?" Serge wondered.

Leena held up her arms, encased in plastic and joined by a short chain. "I don't think I can swim like this," she pointed out.

"You've got a point." He shrugged. "You're not alone. I can't go swimming either, not unless I want to go back to the Supply Room to have my cast dried out afterwards."

Robo chimed in, "And I am too heavy to swim for long."

Leena leaned back on her elbows (as best she could with her wrists chained in front of her) and looked up at the sky. "I know... But what should I do now?"

Robo suggested, "Perhaps you could take the time to simply appreciate the weather? I have found that many humans enjoy this sort of weather."

"I suppose..." Leena said reluctantly, lying down on her back in the grass.

o-o-o-o

"I am curious, do you know where Dalton's gate sent him?" Harle asked.

Marle shook her head. "No idea. We never saw him again, so wherever it was I don't think he could get back – if he even survived."

"I see. So, what did you do next?"

"We headed back to the Last Village to tell everyone the good news. While we were there, someone told us a stranger had been by, looking for us, and was waiting for us up by the Cape.

"We headed up there hoping it was Schala or maybe Crono somehow... Imagine our surprise when we found out it was Magus!

"I forget exactly what he said that tipped us off, but it turned out he was actually that creepy kid, Janus. He had been flung into the Middle Ages and raised by the Mystics, and the only reason he had wanted to summon Lavos was to get revenge on him for the destruction of Zeal.

"He asked us if we wanted to fight him. I didn't – fighting him wouldn't bring back Crono or help stop Lavos... And actually, knowing his history I felt a bit sorry for him."

Frog added, "I would have liked to duel him one last time, but it did not seem the time nor place."

"And it was a good thing we didn't kill him – because when we told him we didn't want to fight, he decided to join us!"

o-o-o-o

For a while Leena was content to lie there and enjoy the weather. However, eventually she grew bored. "We need more ways to pass the time in the Funhouse," she commented.

"Mmm..." Serge agreed.

"It's too bad we don't have a ball or anything. We could play catch, or dodgeball, or something."

"We could improvise. Use a box or a rock for catch... or maybe we could tie up a shirt or sock in a ball."

"I don't want to sacrifice any of my clothes," Leena said. "And I don't think a box would really work that well. Do you see any rocks around here big enough to play catch with but not too heavy?"

Serge glanced around. "No..."

Eventually, they decided to have a race around the Yard, to see who was the fastest in their fish-tail. Crono and Ayla climbed out of the pool to participate, but Robo stayed out of the competition as he wasn't wearing a fish tail. Lucca also bowed out, still caught up in her book.

Ayla won, to the surprise of nobody. The other three had not had much need to move fast while in their tails, and as a result had not developed proper "running" techniques for them. Leena was the first to work something out, as her arms being chained together pretty much limited her to an inch-worm-like style of movement; as a result she took second place, followed by Crono and then Serge.

Not satisfied with their loss, Crono and Serge decided to race again. This time Serge worked out a running technique, and managed to pass Leena and make second place.

In the third race, Crono decided to imitate Ayla's style, and came in second, with Leena falling to last. Ayla was the winner again.

o-o-o-o

"We put the copy in place of the frozen Crono, then dragged Crono back with us through the gate to the tree at the top of Death Peak. As soon as we got back he unfroze... He was obviously pretty confused, but it was a while before Lucca or I could explain things, we were so overwhelmed to have him back."

o-o-o-o

After everyone had rested a bit (particularly Leena, who wasn't in the same shape as the others), Ayla convinced everyone to do some sparring (her lessons earlier didn't count, at least in her mind).

By the time they were done with that, it was nearly time for lunch.

"Darn it, I meant to go visit Marle again this morning," Lucca complained.

Ayla shook her head. "If go now, be very quick visit."

"Yeah, I suppose there wouldn't be much point."

As they prepared to head inside, Robo spoke up. "Excuse me, there is a matter I would like to discuss with the team." When he was sure he had everyone's attention, he continued, "After the last time I spun the Dare Wheel for the team, Luca suggested I should attempt to spin a specific category rather than simply let it spin randomly. As I won the last individual challenge, I will likely be asked to spin the wheel for the team today. Would all of you like me to aim for a specific category?"

Leena looked up at him in surprise. "You mean, you can control where the wheel lands?"

"I believe so. I have not tested it, so I cannot be certain."

"Try for Easy Dares," Ayla said.

Crono and Serge nodded, and Leena said, "That would certainly make things easier." She smirked at her own joke.

Lucca spoke up. "You know, if Robo were to spin a Queen or King when spinning for the category, we could get extra dares, and extra points."

Robo pointed out, "However, only one of the categories could be Easy Dares – the rules specify that when a Queen or King is spun during the category spin, each resulting category must be different."

Leena said, "Why not spin for a King or Queen after the category has been chosen? ...No wait, we'd wind up doing more dares for the same number of points that way, wouldn't we?"

"Affirmative."

"In that case, let's just go with one Easy Dare."

Ayla said thoughtfully, "Maybe not choose King or Queen, but could choose dare."

"We don't have a list of what the dares are," Lucca pointed out.

Robo said, "I remember all of the dares that have been spun so far. We could choose out of them."

Leena asked, "So, what Easy Dares do you remember?"

"Easy Dare 1B is 'Trade chosen article of clothing with chosen player.' Easy Dare 2 is 'Wear Costume of Choice.' Easy Dare 3 is 'Spread moderate amount of chosen messy substance over chosen body part.' Easy Dare 4 is 'Tape several fingers or toes together (24 hours, random). ' Easy Dare 6 is 'Kiss chosen player.' Easy Dare 9 is 'Make a painting or drawing of chosen player.' Easy Dare 10 is 'Strike a pose and shout "I'm number one!".'"

"The tape thing sounds kind of neat, but I don't think it would make much of a difference to me, wearing this costume," Leena said.

Lucca rolled her eyes. "You **would** think that sounded fun." She shook her head, "Personally, I wouldn't like it, at least not on my fingers – it would make doing things with my hands difficult."

"Hmm... The kissing dare is pretty good, too."

Lucca shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that wouldn't be so bad – I already know who I would want to kiss." She glanced at Crono.

Ayla shook head. "You miss big chance. Choose costume, no need do old costume. Pick something we like."

Leena's eyes widened. "That's brilliant!"

Lucca said, "Sounds good to me."

Crono and Serge nodded.

Robo bowed. "Very well. I shall attempt to spin for Easy Dare #2."

That decided, they all headed for the Cafeteria.

o-o-o-o

"So, some dinosaurs survived underground until ze Middle Ages? Zat is most amazing," Harle said.

Marle nodded.

Just then, Wedge stepped in and talked to Vicks, who had been guarding the door. Vicks then spoke up, "Okay, everyone. It's noon, you're free to go." Vicks went around and unlocked the cell doors.

"I don't suppose we can get another meal first?" Kid asked.

"Sorry, no," Vicks said.

Marle said, "Thank heavens."

Wedge said, "Please go change back into your own clothing – or your costume, in Marle's sake. Get something to eat, then meet Mister Bekkler in the Dare Room at one."

"Gotcha," Kid said.

Harle cleared her throat. "I believe you are forgetting somet'ing. Monsieur Bekkler said we would have our magic unlocked when ze dare waz done."

Wedge blinked, then said, "Right." He stepped out, and a few moments later, Norstein Bekkler appeared from the shadows of the Dungeon's main room.

"So, Wedge just reminded me you needed your magic back. Here you go!" He snapped his fingers, and all of the team could feel a tingling as their magic was restored to them. "Anything else I can do for you?"

Kid shook her head. "Can't think of anything."

"Alright. Then I'll see you in an hour."

The Grey Team all headed out. As they walked down the hall towards the Dare Room, they encountered the Red Team on their way to the cafeteria.

"So, I guess they let you out," Lucca commented.

"Well, they did say they'd let us out at noon," Kid pointed out.

"It **is **noon, right?" Marle asked. "It's hard to keep track of the time in there."

Lucca nodded. "We were just heading for lunch."

Marle said, "How come you didn't come visit this morning?"

Lucca scratched the back of her head. "I got caught up reading."

Crono nodded. "Lost track of the time."

Ayla said. "Whole team out in yard. Nice weather." She cocked her head. "Now Gray Team out of Dungeon, Red Team can go outside, all should spend day outside."

Kid said, "Well, if the weather's good, and our dares don't get in the way, we might just do that."

Leena asked, "Was it very boring being stuck in those cells all day?"

Marle shook her head. "Not really. We spent most of the time talking."

Kid muttered, "Speak for yourself."

Marle said, "Anyway, I need to get back to the Gray Room and get back into my costume before I loose the dare."

Lucca nodded. "Okay. But when we have the time you and I need to talk."

"Okay."

The two teams went their separate ways, the Red Team to the cafeteria, and the Gray Team to the Gray Room.

o-o-o-o

During lunch, Frog took Kid aside.

"I have been thinking about the upcoming vote on the quality of Harle's roleplaying. It seems to me that perhaps she should be given a failing vote - since receiving the Amnesia dare this most recent time, I have several times noticed her quite obviously catching herself before saying something she ought not to know."

Kid frowned. "Now that you mention it, I noticed that too. I suppose I ought to feel guilty voting against a team-mate... But it's not like making her loose her Serial Dare would hurt the rest of the team." She gave an evil grin. "Let's stick it to the bitch."

Frog involuntarily took a step back at the look on Kid's face. After regaining his composure, he said, "I am not certain if Marle will be willing to go along with this - she hast always liked Harle. There is also the difficulty of getting her away from Harle long enough to discuss the matter, without seeming suspicious..."

"Yeah, that is going to be a challenge. Well, if we don't get a chance, we don't get a chance."

o-o-o-o

An hour later, everyone met in the Dare Room. Marle was back in her Naga-ette costume, while the rest of the Gray Team were all back in their normal clothing - although thanks to the dare which resulted in Robo having one of her boots, Kid was only wearing her foot-wrappings on her feet.

As usual, Bekkler announced his presence with a cackle as he descended from the ceiling. "Welcome everyone, to the Round Five Bonus Dare assignments! Our first order of business is voting on how well our dear Harle performed her roleplaying."

Frog and Kid both voted against Harle. Marle, who Frog and Kid had never been able to take aside, voted for her. The Red Team had missed most of her slip-ups, and gave her mostly positive ratings.

"Harle, you received six votes out of ten. A narrow margin of success, but a success nonetheless. I suppose familiarity breeds carelessness - if you get another 'amnesia' dare, you might want to watch what you say more carefully."

Harle scowled dangerously, but said nothing.

Bekkler rubbed his hands. "Alright then, time for the fun part. Red Team, why don't we see what category your Team Dare will be from? Robo, as the winner of the previous Individual Challenge, it's your turn to spin for the category."

Robo stepped up to the Dare Wheel, grasped it, and carefully set it spinning. The rest of the team waited in suspense as the wheel slowed down, to finally land on "VIII: Easy Dares".

Leena quietly exclaimed, "Yes!" Robo, Crono, Lucca, and Ayla all pumped their fists in victory in their own way, to which Serge put his palm to his forehead.

"That's a lucky break fer them," Kid commented.

"And here I was hoping to see them all doing something really crazy," Marle complained.

Bekkler said, "Now, Kid, as the player in your team to last the longest in the previous Individual Challenge, why don't you spin to see what category your team's dares will be from?"

Kid stepped up to the wheel, and spun an "IX: Magic".

"Looks like we'll be the ones doing really crazy dares," Kid commented.

"Alright then. Now it's betting time!" Bekkler prompted.

After everyone had placed their bets, Bekkler said to Robo, "Alright, Robo, now please spin the wheel to determine the dare your team will be asked to perform."

Robo once more carefully spun the wheel, and as the team hoped, it landed on 2. On the board, "VIII 2: Wear chosen costume," was written.

"Well, Red Team, any one of you who accepts this dare will be able to discontinue your current costume dare without penalty, and choose a new costume from the Supply Room. If all of you (except Robo, of course) perform it, your team will get an additional 12 points. And since this is an easy dare, you can each choose your own costume."

"Nice," Lucca commented. "And here I was afraid we were going to have to vote on which costume to wear."

"Ayla like."

Bekkler continued, "Before I ask for your decisions on the matter, it's time for the Gray Team members to spin for their individual dares."

* * *

Frog spun a Queen. He then spun a 9C: "Body Part Turned to Gold." Frog glanced over at Marle's petrified right arm, then at Robo's plastic right foot and head. "I suppose if there exist spells to turn one's body part to stone or plastic, it should not come as a surprise there also exists one to turn a body part to gold..."

Bekkler had him pick a card; it read, "Left Arm". He then had Frog spin for the second dare resulting from the Queen; this dare was 3A: "Sleep (24 hours)".

Bekkler summarized, "So first I would cast a spell to turn your left arm into gold, then you would drink a potion to put you to sleep for twenty four hours."

Frog frowned. "'Tis a challenging set of dares..."

Bekkler said, "While you think it over, why don't we continue on with the spinning for dares. Marle?"

Marle spun a "Jack".

"Sorry, no dare this round for you, Marle. Your points remain at 22."

"Darn it, I was looking forward to seeing what sort of spell you had for me."

Kid spun a Joker. Bekkler reminded her, "This means that your Dare will be a Special Dare. If you perform it you will get 12 points, but if you refuse or fail your points will drop by up to twelve - and as your points are only at 6, that will take you down to zero."

"What? Oh great."

Bekkler had her spin the mini-wheel to determine which Magic Special Dare she would receive. She got an A: "Possessed by a randomly chosen player."

Kid's eyebrow twitched. She did not like that idea one bit - as Kid she had never liked to give up control of any aspect of her life, and now that she had gone through being brainwashed by Lynx-in-Serge's body, the idea of being possessed even by a friend was enough to seriously frighten her (not that she'd admit it). "When ya say, 'possessed', what exactly are ya talkin' about?"

"I would use magic to transfer the mind and soul of the chosen player into your body. You would then be a passenger in your body, aware of what is going on but unable to act, while the other player controlled your body instead of their own for the next twenty four hours. Their body would simply sleep through the time."

Kid's eyebrow twitched a few more times. She hadn't counted on being aware of what was going on while she was possessed - that made it worse than being brainwashed, and closer to her memories of being a part of the Time Devourer. On the other hand, at least it was only for a day, and the person doing it wasn't likely to be even close to as full of hatred as the Time Devourer. It occurred to her that whether she could handle this would depend a lot on who it was - she might be willing to give control of her body to Serge or Lucca, but if the other player was Harle then Kid intended to reject the dare without regret.

"So, who would this player be, anyway?"

Bekkler held out a deck of cards, and she picked one. It had a smiling portrait of Leena on it, as well as Leena's name. "Keep in mind that she needs to agree to the dare too, even though she won't get any points for it. If she refuses and you cannot convince her to change her mind, you loose the dare."

As Bekkler turned his attention to Robo and Harle, Kid debated what to do about the dare. She'd already rejected several dares (and forfeited one Challenge) over the course of the Funhouse, and as a result her points were still quite low. Looking at her score of six (which would become zero if she rejected this dare) and comparing it to Ayla's score of twenty-four and Marle's score of twenty-two, she felt like a wimp for rejecting so many dares and that Challenge. Also, more points meant a bigger prize if she made it to the end of the Funhouse, and she liked getting money. And while Leena wouldn't have been her first choice for someone to possess her, Leena was far from the worst person for it either. Still, the thought of having someone else controlling her, even a good person for only a day, nearly terrified her.

Kid glanced over at Leena, trying to imagine what it would be like to have her controlling her body. Leena was looking down at the floor, a thoughtful expression on her face. After a moment, Leena looked up and caught Kid's eye. Leena raised an eyebrow, and crawled over. "So... do you know if you're going to accept the dare?" Leena asked.

Kid shook her head. "Haven't decided yet. What about you - will ya accept if I do?"

"I don't know. It sounds kind of interesting, but this really isn't my sort of thing. Besides, how would Serge and I work our relationship with my mind in your body?"

Kid shook her head and shrugged - she didn't have an answer to that one.

Meanwhile, Bekkler asked Robo to pick a card to determine which part of his body (or his "clone"'s body) would be turned to plastic. Robo selected a card reading, "Right Hand".

Bekkler then turned to Harle. "Finally, Harle, why don't you spin for your next Roleplaying dare?"

Harle spun a 10B : "Act dim-witted."

"Dim-witted? I am not certain I understand. Perhaps you could clarify?"

"It means you would act as if you had a low IQ. You would act as if you weren't very knowledgeable, and were slow on the uptake. Depending on the situation you might want to make 'mistakes' because of those factors, but you shouldn't need to make stupid or silly 'mistakes' just to show how dumb you are - at least not unless you don't think the other players are buying your performance."

"I see."

Bekkler now turned back to the Red Team. "All right, Red Team, it's time to reveal your bets and whether you'll accept your dares."

Crono, Lucca, Serge, Leena, and Ayla all accepted. Having known what to expect, they had all bet six points. Crono's points rose to 22, Lucca's rose to 23, Serge's rose to 13, Leena's rose to 12, and Ayla's points rose to 30. The Red Team's Team Score rose to 36.

"You can head to the Resource Room and pick up your new costumes when we're done here. Now, Robo, will you allow us to turn your right hand - or that of your Clone - into plastic?"

"Affirmative. You may transform my duplicate's hand."

"Very well then." Bekkler snapped his fingers; in the Red Bedroom the Robo-Doll's right hand turned to plastic - not that one would be able to tell from looking at it, given that the duplicate was covered in purple latex.

Bekkler now turned to the Gray Team. "Frog, will you accept your dares?"

Frog croaked. "Wouldst I be awakened from mine slumber before the next Challenge?"

"Yes, you would."

"Then I suppose I canst afford to to miss a day and to suffer under a handicap. I accept." Frog had bet four points, so his points rose to 17.

Bekkler said, "Please hold your arm the way you'd like to hold it for the rest of the game." Frog held his arm slightly bent, at a 135 degree angle. Bekkler snapped his fingers, and a sparkling gold mist covered Frog's arm for a moment. When it cleared, Frog's arm appeared to be made of polished solid gold, from just below his shoulder to just before his wrist. Frog moved his arm around experimentally; as with Marle's arm the elbow remained immobile.

Bekkler told him, "When we're done assigning dares, you can go back to the Gray Room and get ready for bed, then get in bed and drink this potion. You'll sleep for twenty-four hours or until I cast a spell to wake you, whichever comes first." He handed Frog a bottle filled with a clear liquid with a faintly blue tint to it.

Bekkler now turned to Kid and Leena. "So, Kid and Leena, will you accept Kid's dare?"

Leena nodded. "I'm game if Kid is."

Kid was still extremely torn. Hoping the answer would help lessen her fears, she asked, "Accordin' to the rules, there's always supposed ta be a way fer us ta back outta dares after we've started them. How would I back outta this if I change my mind?"

"The spell I'm planning on using has been customized for the purposes of the Funhouse. If you decide you no longer want Leena's soul within your body, you need simply apply your will to the idea of pushing it out. Leena's soul will then be painlessly forced out of your body and back into her own."

"Could we test it before I agree to the dare? Ya know, ya put her soul in my body, I try and push her out, and if I can't do it in a few minutes ya use yer magic ta get her out?"

"I suppose. Are you ready to perform this test now?"

Kid nodded, not letting herself think too deeply about what she was agreeing to so as to avoid panicking.

Bekkler turned to Leena. "You should lie down or have someone hold your body up while you possess Kid; otherwise your body will just fall to the floor."

Leena called Serge over, and had him hold up her body. Bekkler then snapped his fingers, and Leena felt a jerking sensation and suddenly she was seeing the room from a different position. She swayed a bit on her feet, disorientated by the "journey" and by the fact that she was now standing instead of kneeling. She steadied herself and looked down to see larger breasts than she was used to filling out a white t-shirt and vest, and below that a bare midriff and Kid's red skirt.

She couldn't be sure if it was real or just her imagination, but Leena thought she could feel Kid's presence, like the two of them were standing next to each other a bit too close for comfort, maybe even touching - though she couldn't actually feel that touch.

Leena looked over at Serge, who was holding a sleeping body with the face she normally saw in the mirror. "Weird..." She held up Kid's gloved hands and flexed her fingers, the experience feeling all the more surreal for the fact that it felt exactly the same as if she were doing it in her own body (aside from the fact that she didn't usually wear gloves).

o-o-o-o

A second or so after Bekkler snapped his fingers, Kid felt an impact. It didn't hurt, and she couldn't have identified where it hit her, but it did cause her to sway on her feet. Or at least, she assumed it was because of the impact that she had lost her balance, until she realized that it wasn't her causing her body to straighten up again.

Kid now became aware of the presence of Leena's soul. The sense of having another soul within her body reminded her a bit of the way Schala's soul and the fragment of Lavos had bonded, or the way Schala's soul and the original Kid's soul had merged. However, to her relief there was no sense of merging or overlap this time. Their souls were close, maybe even touching, but they weren't connecting to one another.

Without her input, her eyes looked down at her body, then over at Serge and Leena, the latter of whom appeared to be asleep. Her voice commented, "Weird..." Her hands then rose up in front of her eyes, and her fingers flexed.

Not liking her body moving without her telling it to, and wanting to test whether this "Possession" spell truly left her body completely in Leena's control like Bekkler had said, Kid tried to curl her hands into fists. Nothing happened. She tried waving her arms around, but that didn't work either. Next she tried turning her head to the side, then stomping her feet, but her body still refused to respond to her commands. She couldn't even control where her eyes looked or move her tongue around inside her mouth.

Kid had expected to feel terrified at this point. However, while she didn't like it one bit, and was a bit nervous about what Leena might make her body do, so far it wasn't nearly as bad as she had feared. Having her body out of the control of her mind was quite a bit different from having her mind corrupted or altered and loosing control of herself because of that. She felt like a passenger in her own body, but she didn't feel like a victim or a monster.

"So, this is what it likes to wear someone else's body," her voice commented. "Somehow I expected it to feel... I don't know... different."

* * *

_"What do you expect, we're both healthy human girls around the same age." _Kid thought. She tried to 'send' the thought to Leena, as if she were talking to her, but Leena didn't respond.

Serge commented, "When me and Lynx switched minds, it felt like I was in my own body except that I was taller and had fur. I didn't even have to relearn how to fight."

This surprised Kid - just doing simple movements was one thing, but she would have expected Serge to have to relearn how to fight after winding up in a completely different body. Thinking back, however, she realized Serge was telling the truth - Lynx and Serge had fought with just as much skill as ever moments after their minds had been switched. If they had seemed clumsy or uncoordinated, maybe she would have been more suspicious.

* * *

Harle spoke up, asking, "You switched minds with Monsieur Lynx?! When?"

"It was in another timeline," Serge said.

Tuning out the conversation, Kid decided to see if she could get control of her body back. Focusing on the soul she felt intruding upon her personal space, she pushed with all her mental might.

o-o-o-o

"You switched minds with Monsieur Lynx?! When?"

"It was in another timeline," Serge said.

"Anothair time-line? Zen how iz it you remembair it? Do not tell moi you av traveled through time like Marle and her friends?"

"No... Actually I'm not sure why I'm able to remember it." Serge glanced over at Kid, hoping she could shed some light on the subject; only when he saw her standing in a stance more reminiscent of Leena than Kid, and with her face lacking Kid's normal cocky expression did he remember she wasn't in a position to provide any answers at the moment.

"Kid" shrugged; obviously she had even less of an idea why he could remember his adventures than he did.

Suddenly, Leena's body spasmed in his arms, and she gasped and opened her eyes wide. She hung her head and moaned, "What hit me?"

Kid blinked and looked down at herself. She curled her hands into fists and lifted them up to chest hight. "It worked!"

Serge looked down at Leena, who was obviously in possession of her soul and mind once more. "How are you?" he asked.

"I feel like a dingo body-slammed me. Kid, the next time you push me out of your body, could you try to be gentler about it?"

"Oops. Sorry about that. I didn't know it was going to be so easy."

Bekkler spoke up. "So, now that the test has proven successful, will you be accepting the dare?"

Kid thought about it. She didn't know if she could handle an entire day unable to control her body; however she now knew she could call it off if it proved to much for her. "Sure, what the heck, I'll try it. I ain't sayin' I'll go the whole twenty-four hours, but it ain't like I'll loose any more points if I call the dare off later than if I don't start in the first place. Might as well give it a shot." Kid's points rose to 18.

"Alright," Bekkler said, "Are you ready to begin?"

Leena held up her hand. "Wait, maybe I should go lie down in the Red Room, so no one needs to carry my body there?"

"Good idea."

"Oh, and I'm supposed to go choose a costume... Which body am I going to be putting that costume on, anyway? Mine or Kid's?"

"Kid's, at least for the next twenty-four hours. For the purposes of the Funhouse the primary seat of identity is the soul." Harle shook her head at this. Ignoring her, Bekkler continued, "So whatever body you wear, that is the body your dares apply to. Which by the way means you'll need to move your handcuffs over to her body as well."

Kid rolled her eyes. "Don't that just figure." At least it wouldn't really be Kid dealing with them, even if they were on Kid's body.

Bekkler added, "Oh, that reminds me - unless Kid is willing to forfeit her dare to trade her boot to Robo, you'll need to go without a boot or shoe on Kid's left foot while you're possessing her."

Leena thought about it, then replied, "I suppose I can do that."

Bekkler said, "Well, before we transfer your soul again, we might as well find out, Harle - do you accept your dare?"

"Of course. What reason would I have for not accepting it?"

"Okay then. Your dare begins now. Frog and Leena, you should both go get ready for bed. Leena, you may take your costume and handcuffs off before you get in bed; you should probably bring someone with you to let me know when you're ready for the soul transfer; when that's done you can go to the supply room to pick out your new costume. Crono, Serge, Lucca, and Ayla, you should all head to the supply room to pick out your costumes now." Bekkler clapped his hands. "And with that, this Dare assignment is over."

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

_Next Episode: _The Red Team members all pick out new costumes - what will they choose? Leena possesses Kid again - but can Kid last a whole day aware but unable to control herself? Harle does her best to act dim witted, but will her critics be satisfied with the performance? And then, the players get to show each other the ropes in an Individual Challenge entitled "Escape Artist"!

All this and more, in the next exiting episode of "The Funhouse"! Coming in 2012. Maybe. If we're lucky.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

Author's Notes:

I have heard of the final fate of Dalton as revealed in the DS Chrono Trigger (though I haven't actually played that version yet). However this version of the cast has not gone through the events which would have revealed that fate to them.

Robo's spinning the wheel just enough to get the selection he wanted actually isn't against the rules - I wasn't thinking about the effects of having a robot competing when I wrote them. However, he won't always be able to give the Red Team the dares they want - he won't always be the one spinning the wheel, after all.


	24. Episode Eighteen Part 1

Author's Notes:

I apologize for not posting this chapter sooner; I've actually had it and the next two chapters mostly complete for months, but I delayed in posting them because I wasn't satisfied with them. Even as it stands this version of the chapter is far longer than it ought to be and I fear the pacing is too slow; however there isn't anything left in it that I can bring myself to cut.

...Since posting the previous chapter, I have made the following revisions to older chapters:

On May 25 2012 I posted revised versions of Episode 10 (Chapter 12) and Episode 11 (Chapter 13). On September 11 2012 I posted revised versions of Episodes 12 (Chapter 14) through to Episode 17 Part Three (the chapter previous to this one).

The revision to Episode 10 was more involved than my normal revisions, with several scenes altered or expanded, and several new scenes added. Some of the new scenes describe events I first referenced in Episode Seventeen, and some of the other changes were made to accommodate these new scenes. In addition, I felt the need to tweak some of the characters' speech and actions to fit with my current interpretation of their personalities.

The revision to Episode 11 was much more minor, mostly just a matter of correcting the scoreboard and some phrasing (though I did alter the conversation between Ayla and Lucca about Ayla and "Quin's" encounter).

In Episode 12 I made some minor changes to the opening conversation and added some new dialog to the make-out scene to reflect my current takes on the personalities of Marle and Lucca.

In Episode 13, I added short breaks into Leena's hogtie dare (as would need to be the case if such a dare were performed in real life).

The changes to Episodes 14 and 15 were minor ones, mostly continuity corrections.

In Episode 16 I adjusted the vote totals for the Roleplay judging (I had forgot to include Bekkler's votes in my counts), and added in a short cameo of myself addressing the issue.

Finally, the changes to Episode 17 were minor ones again - spelling and grammar corrections for the most part in this case.

With the posting of these revisions, my revisions of the chapters prior to this one ought to be complete (at least until such a time as I feel up to the daunting task of trying to give Frog, Ayla, and the Chrono Cross characters more consistent accents, the one thing I was hoping to do when I started my revisions that I was unable to accomplish). Perhaps now I can devote more of my attention to moving forward with the story. (Of course, knowing me my update pace will likely still be glacial.)

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

by Chronos Cat

Episode Eighteen Chapter One

Round Five Part Two

Previously on "Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse":

Both teams competed in the "Prison Breakout" team challenge. The Red Team won the challenge, gaining a "Skeleton Key" which would allow them to enter any of the rooms accessible to the players, even those which were rewards for previous challenges. As a penalty, the Gray Team was required to remain in the Dungeon until the next day at noon. To pass the time, Marle began telling Harle the story of Marle, Crono, and the others' adventures in time. Meanwhile, the relationship between Crono and Lucca and the competition between Marle and Lucca over Crono became public knowledge when Leena and Serge walked in on Crono and Lucca making out.

Finally, the Gray Team was set free, and after a short break a new set of Bonus Dares were handed out. Being uncertain about her dare to be possessed by Leena, Kid convinced Bekkler to let her test it for a short time. The test having gone without a hitch, the time has come for the dares to begin in earnest.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Scoreboard

_**Red Team **_(Team points: 36):  
Team Prizes: Skeleton Key (Access to Cafeteria, Library, Hot Tub, Yard, Red & Gray Rooms)

***Crono: **Points: 22  
Clothing: Costume of choice (not yet chosen; still wearing Cyborg Cowboy Merman costume)

***Lucca**: Points: 23  
Clothing: Costume of choice (not yet chosen; still wearing Cyborg Cowgirl Mermaid costume)  
Conditions: latex on face (~), clay mud in hair (~),

***Robo**: Points: 78  
(Serial Dare X: "Metamorphosis" into action figure.)  
Clothing: has Kid's left boot (not worn)  
Conditions: Head, right foot plastic

_(Robo Doll):  
_Conditions: Head, right foot, right arm, right hand plastic; covered in purple latex; left & right purple short leg casts; leather tassels in "shirt" position

***Ayla**: Points: 30  
Clothing: Costume of choice (not yet chosen; still wearing Cyborg Cowgirl Mermaid costume)

***Serge**: Points: 13  
Clothing: Costume of choice (not yet chosen; still wearing Cyborg Cowboy Merman costume)

***Leena**: Points: 12  
Clothing: Costume of choice (not yet chosen; still wearing Cyborg Cowgirl Mermaid costume); agreed not to wear left boot/shoe/et. while possessing Kid.  
Conditions: handcuffs. Is to possess Kid (as part of Kid's dare)  
.

_**Gray Team**_ (team points: 0):  
Team Prizes: Yard, Hot Tub

***Frog**: Points: 17  
Conditions: Left arm turned to gold; sleep (24 hours; not yet begun)

***Marle**: Points: 22  
Clothing: snake-woman costume with bikini top  
Condition: right arm turned to stone.

***Kid: **Points: 18  
Clothing: left boot traded to Robo  
Conditions: Possessed by Leena (24 hours; not yet begun)

***Harle**: Points: 66  
(Serial Dare VI: "Identity Crisis")  
Conditions: act dim witted (until next bonus)

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

_**Day Seventeen Continued**_

"Welcome! You four must be here to pick out your new costumes?" Marian said cheerfully as Crono, Lucca, Serge, and Ayla crawled into the Resource Room.

Crono nodded.

"Alright then. You all know where we keep our costumes, but I'll accompany you anyway in case you need any help." Marian walked with them to the part of the Resource Room where they stored the costumes. "Since you each only have one 'choose your own costume' dare, you won't be able to mix and match from different costume types - each of you will need to choose one specific costume type. You can mix and match within a costume type, however, so long as you remain true to the spirit of the costume. Anyway, why don't you have a look around and see what catches your eyes."

The four players began wandering around amongst the rows of costumes. Some articles were hanging on hangers, some were resting on boxes or shelves, and occasionally footwear would be lying on the floor. The selection included costumes they were familiar with, such as merfolk, snake-people, cowboys, cyborgs, and angels. It also included costumes they hadn't seen before, such as pirates, robots, and devils - there were even some gorilla suits!

Lucca found herself gravitating to the section where the cyborg and robot costumes were held. Her love of technology extended to the look of it, and the idea of dressing up in it appealed to her. (Really, that was the one part of her current costume she liked.) The question was, should she wear a cyborg costume or a robot costume, and which style should she wear?

She was quite tempted to wear a robot costume - some of their robot costumes looked rather cool, and she had always loved robots. However, by their nature they covered the entire body (including the head and face), and she wasn't sure she wanted to wear a costume so extreme for potentially the rest of the game.

The cyborg costumes would be a good compromise, and if she chose carefully she could even get something a bit more extensive than the current "cybernetic" part of her costume without handicapping herself. However, she wasn't quite sure how extensive she wanted to get with her "cybernetics".

Then there was the question of what Crono would think of her costume. She didn't want to ruin her opportunity with him, after all.

Deciding to get his input, she went looking for Crono.

o-o-o-o

Frog stepped out of the bedroom, wearing only his breeches. "T'was more difficult than I imagined taking mine cloths off with one arm unable to bend," he commented.

Marle nodded. "I found it the same way at first. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

Frog nodded. "I imagine so. ...Well, I suppose 'tis time for me to begin my other dare of the day."

"Okay. Goodnight. Have a good sleep."

Kid added her own "Goodnight."

Harle asked, "Why iz he going to sleep now? It iz barely past lunch time!"

Marle rolled her eyes. "Because of the dare he got earlier to sleep for twenty four hours?"

Kid said, "Yer dare is ta be 'dim witted', not air-headed!"

"I do not need your help." She turned to Frog. "Goodnight, Frog. I shall see you in ze morning."

Frog croaked. "The early afternoon, actually."

"Oui, ze early afternoon; zat is what I meant."

Frog shook his head, then said, "Goodnight to you all." He headed back into the bedroom, and over to his bed. Marle and Harle walked over to the door and watched as he grabbed the potion Bekkler had given him and climbed into bed. Frog took a few sips from the potion, then closed the bottle and put it down. He barely had time to pull up the covers and settle into a comfortable position when his eyes slid closed and his breathing slowed.

"Effective stuff," Marle commented.

"Perhaps I should use some ze next time I have trouble sleeping," Harle commented.

"Only if you want to sleep for twenty four hours."

"Oh, yes. I suppose that would not usually be ze case."

o-o-o-o

Lucca found Crono looking through several Pirate costumes. "Thinking of going with a Pirate costume?" Lucca asked.

Crono nodded.

"You should wear one without a shirt. You look good without a shirt," Lucca suggested. "Or maybe you could wear one of those fur loincloths I saw in with the caveman costumes. ...No, on second thought, go with the Pirate look - we don't want to tempt Ayla too much!"

Crono nodded, and pulled out a blue vest, baggy pants with red and white stripes, a red bandanna with white polka-dots, and black leather boots.

"Well, now that you've chosen your costume, could you come help me pick out a costume? I have a few ideas, but I want your opinion."

Crono nodded, and followed Lucca back to the cyborg and robot section.

Meanwhile, Ayla had found the caveman costumes. She was quite surprised to see outfits from her era in with the costumes. At first she wasn't sure what to feel about it; finally she settled on amused - and hopeful she might actually be able to find an outfit she'd like.

Ayla made her way over to where Marian was waiting, and told her, "Ayla find furs in costumes. Can Ayla wear furs as costume, even though it what Ayla always wear?"

Marian thought about it a moment then answered, "Sure, I don't see why not. So long as you wear the furs that are in with the costumes that is."

"Why no wear Ayla's furs? Wear top now." Ayla gestured to the fur top she was wearing.

Marian's jaw dropped. "Have you been wearing that the entire time you've been wearing that costume?"

"Take off for dungeon challenge and hot tub... Rest of time, yes."

Marian put her hand to her forehead and began kneading it. "How is it I never noticed that? How is it no one else on the staff noticed it?"

"Is problem?"

"Yes, you weren't supposed to be wearing that - you were supposed to be wearing something from a cyborg, cowboy, or mermaid costume. Now that I think of it, that bandanna Crono's been wearing is probably his normal one too..."

Ayla frowned. "We loose points for this?"

"I don't know. It was my mistake for not pointing it out to you before you left the Supply Room after getting your costumes, so I'm probably the one who's going to get in the most trouble for it. On the other hand, this rule was mentioned in the rulebook available to the players, so there's a chance Bekkler might still count this as a failed dare."

"But Ayla only just start learning to read. No can read rulebook."

"Yeah, but your teammates can read, they could have told you."

Ayla thought a bit about the problem. She didn't want to loose the dare just because no one had told her all the rules, but there was no guarantee her ignorance would be a good enough defense. "Marian say she get in trouble too?"

"Yeah... I probably won't loose my job but I'm sure to at least get a scolding."

"No tell."

"What?"

"No tell anyone. Marian no get in trouble, Ayla no get in trouble."

Marian thought about it for a few moments."Alright, but I'll get in even more trouble if anyone learns I noticed but didn't say anything. So you have to promise me never to say anything to anyone about this conversation."

Ayla nodded. "Ayla promise."

Marian walked back to the caveman section with Ayla. Ayla picked out a leopard-spotted one-piece which would hang from her right shoulder down across her torso ending in a jagged edge a few inches down her thighs. Knowing that with a hem that high people were going to occasionally see under the it, and that her loincloth wouldn't go with the one-piece, she also picked out a tiger-striped bikini-bottom. Ayla then looked around on the floor, confused. "No boots?"

"Sorry, none of our caveman our cavewoman costumes come with footwear - you're supposed to go barefoot while wearing them."

Ayla frowned for a moment, then shrugged. It was true that in her era most people went around barefoot; she was unusual for preferring to cover her feet. It wouldn't hurt her to dress like everyone else for a little while, though.

She took off her cowboy hat and the high-tech-looking wristbands that constituted the "cyborg" part of her costume. She then reached for the edge of her mermaid tail before remembering that Leena and Lucca didn't like it if she took off her clothes where their guys had a chance of seeing it. "Have place get changed?" she asked Marian.

Marian blushed, and said, "Oh! Sure. Follow me."

o-o-o-o

"Well, you can go tell Bekkler I'm ready," Leena said, pulling up the covers as she lay in her bed.

"Affirmative," Robo replied. Carrying the pieces of Leena's cyborg-cowgirl-mermaid costume as well as her handcuffs, Robo left the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He made his way to the Dare Room, where Bekkler was waiting along with Vicks. "Mistress Leena is now in bed," Robo informed Bekkler.

"Good, good. Vicks, could you go retrieve Kid so I can cast the spell on her again?" The soldier headed down the hall to the Gray Room.

o-o-o-o

"What's takin' her so long?" Kid wondered as she paced the floor of the Gray Room. She wasn't looking forward to her dare, but the longer she had to wait the more nervous she became. If Leena wasn't ready to start soon, she might just call the whole thing off.

"Come on, you know how long it can take to get ready for bed," Marle said. "And she has to take off that costume too."

"I know, I know. But that doesn't make the waitin' any easier."

With a smirk, Marle joked, "I wouldn't have expected you to be anxious to be possessed."

"I'm not!" Kid said angrily. "I'm anxious ta get it over with!" Kid chose not to admit to being afraid of the dare, as Harle was hanging around in the main Gray Room, feigning confusion at the conversation.

"Just relax," Marle advised. "Think of it as a vacation. For the next twenty four hours you don't have to do anything at all - not even decide how to move your body."

Kid raised an eyebrow. "Is that how you got through your body cast dare?"

"Well, that's what I tried to tell myself when I wasn't letting someone distract me from my dare."

"And did it work?" There was both hope and skepticism in Kid's voice - from what she remembered, Marle hadn't really handled being in a cast very well.

"Well, some of the time." Marle said.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Kid opened it to find Vicks standing there.

"Leena's ready, so it's time for you to start your dare. Mister Bekkler wants you to meet him in the Dare Room."

"A-already?" Kid asked, starting to panic. Suddenly she wished she had another half an hour or more to prepare herself mentally, and all sorts of things she should have done while waiting for Leena popped into her head. "Just a moment. I need ta use the restroom first. And do ya think I should wash off my paints and take my hair out its' ponytail? I bet Leena would prefer ta use her own make up, and I know she likes ta keep her hair loose," she babbled.

"Leena can take care of all that herself once she's in your body," Vicks pointed out.

"Oh... right. I guess I'll just follow you to the Dare Room then..."

Vicks headed back down the hall, and Kid followed behind him, feeling a bit light headed. She barely even noticed Marle and Harle following her out, or Robo standing in the Dare Room holding Leena's old costume.

When she reached Norstein Bekkler, he asked her, "So, Kid, are you ready to start your dare?"

Kid gulped. This was the moment of truth. She could say yes and start a new ordeal, or she could back out of the dare without even starting it because of a panic attack - and with Marle, Robo, and Harle all watching, no less. She took a deep breath and answered, "As I'll ever be."

"Very well then. Since Leena is not here, I'd like you to hold this while I cast the spell." Bekkler handed her the "Leena" card she had picked out of his deck earlier.

"Okay..." Kid said, wondering if it was an important part of the spell or just a prop.

Bekkler snapped his fingers, and once more Kid's body staggered as she felt the impact of Leena's soul against hers. A surprised "Oh!" escaped from her mouth, and Kid had to wonder which of them had made it - her or Leena.

Kid's body straightened up, no longer under her own control. She looked down at herself, then at the room around her. From her mouth came the comment, "That wasn't any less disorientating the second time around."

_"So that's it, then," _Kid thought. The only way she'd be able to control her body for the next day was if she pushed Leena out again and forfeited her dare. She still wasn't happy about it, but it was a relief in many ways. She didn't have the anticipation of the dare hanging over her head any more, nor did she have to worry about hiding how frightened the idea of the dare made her. And, like Marle had said, she didn't have to worry about what to do with herself - though she was sure that would get old fast.

After giving Leena a few moments to get her bearings, Bekkler asked her, "Leena, could you pick up that card for me?" He pointed to the floor, where the "Leena" card Kid had been holding was lying; apparently she had dropped it when she stumbled as the possession started.

"Sure," Leena replied in Kid's voice. Kid's body crouched down and picked it up. As she stood back up she glanced at the card; to Kid's surprise, the card now showed a picture of Kid, even though the text still read "Leena". "That's really weird," Kid's voice said, and mentally Kid had to agree.

As Bekkler took the card from Kid, he said, "The cards are designed to show the current face of the person they refer to - and for the next twenty four hours, that is your face."

"I don't think I'll be used to it before the twenty-four hours are up."

_"You'd better not be," _Kid thought. _"I hope I'm not either. The thought of either of us getting used to this situation is just plain creepy."_

Bekkler said, "Well, be that as it may, you have your own dares to perform. You should put your handcuffs back on, then go pick out a costume."

Kid's head nodded. "Right." With this warning, Kid was not surprised when her body walked over to Robo and one of her hands grabbed the cuffs from the pile he was carrying. "Thanks for carrying everything for me," her voice said.

"It was my pleasure..." Robo tilted his head. "Should I refer to you as Mistress Leena or Kid?"

"Please, call me Leena. It would be too confusing for me the other way around."

_"Why'd you have to go and say that, Leena?"_ Kid complained, even though she knew Leena couldn't hear her. _"You may be the one in control right now, but this is still my body! When someone talks to me they should say my name, not yours!"_

Unaware of Kid's view on the matter, Robo replied,_ "_As you wish, Mistress Leena."

Bekkler took this opportunity to say a quick goodbye, and disappeared with his customary cackle. Vicks also headed off to see to other duties.

As Kid's hands fiddled with the handcuffs, trying to put them on her wrists without anyone else's assistance, Harle spoke up. "Zis does not make any sense. First Monsieur Bekkler calls Kid 'Leena', and now you do it too, Robo. Can you not see zat it iz Kid?"

"My optic sensors are in perfect working order."

"Zen why would you call Kid 'Leena'?!"

_"Exactly! Thank you, Harle!_" Kid thought. Then who she was mentally thanking fully registered. _"Who would have thought I'd agree with Harle on something?"_

Robo answered matter-of-factly, "Because she asked me to."

Harle was obviously taken aback by this simple answer, and it took her a few moments to respond with a stubborn, "But it iz not her name!"

"It is the name assigned to one of the minds currently in her body."

"Minds do not get names! Bodies get names! And Kid iz ze name of ze body which stands before us."

"Irrelevant. Names can be changed."

Kid was caught off guard when she stepped closer to Robo and said politely, "Um, excuse me? I need to get going. I can take my old costume back to the Resource Room myself, if you want to go do something else." Kid realized to her surprise that she hadn't even noticed Leena finishing locking the handcuffs around her wrists. Kid found that the knowledge that her hands were restrained made her feel a bit nervous and uncomfortable - ironic considering that she had no control over her hands anyway, not to mention that if she did have control over her hands she could probably get out of the handcuffs without too much trouble.

Responding to Leena's statement, Robo said, "Thank you. I believe when I am done with my discussion with Harle I shall go spend some more time outside." Robo handed Kid Leena's old costume.

Kid's head nodded, and her body turned to walk down the hall to the Resource Room. However, before she had gone very far Marle's voice called out, "Hold on a moment, Leena."

Kid's body stopped and turned to face Marle. Marle crawled up to her and said, "I wanted to say, while you're possessing Kid's body today and tomorrow, don't forget that her mind and soul are in there too - and that she can't do anything for herself right now. Please don't just use her body like your own - talk to her, maybe do stuff she would enjoy... live for the both of you. Okay?"

Kid suspected that if her body was responding to her mind right now she'd be fighting off a blush. It was touching that Marle had thought of her, and was asking this of Leena for her, but it was also embarrassing. Marle made it sound like Kid was some child to be cared for, and what's worse, Kid had to listen to Marle's talking about her that way.

After a moment, Kid's voice said softly, "I can feel Kid's soul - or at least I think I can - so there's not much chance of my forgetting she's in here with me. I don't plan on doing anything I wouldn't normally be willing to do with Kid watching. And I wouldn't want to do anything to hurt her." Her voice rising a bit, she continued, "But if Kid had wanted me to babysit her she should have said something before we started the dare, so we could discuss what I was going to get in return." She smiled and winked at Marle. "I don't mind babysitting, but I like to be compensated for it!"

Marle looked a bit puzzled (Kid guessed that as an only child in a royal family, Marle had never been in a position to babysit anyone before, and had no idea how much of a hassle it was). After a moment Marle shook her head, and said, "Look, I'm not asking you to spend all your time looking after her. Just keep in mind that you have a passenger, and maybe occasionally do something for her."

"I'll see what I can do. By the way, thank you for bringing this up. I might not have thought about what this is like for Kid if you hadn't said anything."

Marle nodded.

As Leena once more turned Kid's body to go, Marle grabbed her arm. "Wait. One more thing." She then looked directly into Kid's eyes. "Kid, I know this isn't an easy dare for you. Just try to hang in there as best you can, and don't be afraid to forfeit if it gets too hard to handle. No one will think any less of you if you do - well, no one that matters anyway."

Kid was touched, but once more embarrassed - didn't she realize she was saying that in front of Leena? Kid also felt Marle was being naive to think it wouldn't lower anyone's opinions of her if she backed out of the dare.

Leena broke eye contact, and pulled Kid's body away a few steps. "Marle, please don't do that!"

Marle put her left hand on her hip. "What? After all that you won't even let me talk to Kid?"

"No, it's not that. You can talk to her if you want. Just don't stand so close to me and stare into my eyes. It's creepy!"

"Oh. Sorry."

o-o-o-o

"So, which do you think would look better on me, the riveted mock-bronze arm, or the sleek white plastic one?"

Crono shrugged.

"You're a lot of help," Lucca said, crossing her arms. She looked over the costumes, in the vain hope that she'd get some burst of inspiration and finally be able to decide which cyborg parts to wear. Instead, she found her eyes drawn to the robot costumes again. Despite how impractical it was, she really wanted to wear one.

Deciding she had nothing to loose by asking, she turned to Crono and touched her eyepiece (adjusting her glasses was such an ingrained habit that she still found herself going through the motions even after three days with her "cybernetic" eyepiece). "What would you think if I wore a full robot costume instead of a cyborg costume?"

Crono raised an eyebrow, his expression indicating he wanted her to elaborate.

Lucca crawled over to one particular robot costume which had caught her eye. It was colored a silver-gray, and had mock rivets, obvious hinges at the joints, rubber hoses connected to various parts, and other details that wouldn't be out of place on a machine from Lucca and Crono's day (or Robo and the rest of the R-series, for that matter). The face was a smooth metallic-looking plastic plate with colored glass inserts for eyes, and a grill over the mouth. The chest plate had a few random mechanical touches to it, while the section between the waist and rib-cage was a stretchy black material with various tubes, wires, and the like running down it.

Lucca held the costume next to her so Crono could see it, and said, "What if I wore this costume? ...Or one a lot like it," she amended, realizing it looked a bit tall to fit her. "Do you think you'd like it? Or would having me dressed up as a machine be a turn-off?"

Crono thought about it. Thinking about the costume as a costume or an actual robot it didn't turn him on in the slightest (in fact he thought it looked a bit ugly), but if he imagined Lucca wearing it the look didn't seem so bad - he even thought she might be able to turn him on wearing it so long as she acted like herself and not a robot. "It might work," he told her. "Except for one thing - we wouldn't be able to kiss, or really touch each other."

Lucca stared at him for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then she said, "I hadn't thought about that."

o-o-o-o

Serge raised an eyebrow as he examined the full suit of armor. It's design looked quite impressive, but he couldn't see wearing it all day, let alone for the rest of the game.

"There you are!"

Serge turned to see Kid walking down the aisle towards him, her hands held close together in front of her by the padded handcuffs Leena had been wearing for the past two days.

"Hi, Kid," Serge said. "You must have started your dare?"

Kid nodded. "Yes, she did. Now are you going to say hello to me?"

"But I just did," Serge protested.

Kid scowled. "No, you said hello to Kid."

"You are Kid," Serge tried to point out, though the moment the words left his mouth he realized she wasn't going to agree.

Kid's scowl deepened. "No, I'm Leena."

Serge sighed, and said in as patient a voice as he could manage, "I know you remember being Leena, but that doesn't mean you are her."

Kid's eyebrow twitched. "I don't just remember being Leena. My soul is in here too, or weren't you paying attention earlier?"

"I know. But that doesn't make you Leena. When Lynx had my memories he must have had the same soul as I do now, but hardly anyone thought that he was me." Serge's voice wavered at the last statement; it still hurt to remember how so many of those he had thought of as friends had treated him (or rather, Lynx) like an enemy or a stranger. Even both versions of Leena.

"They probably had no idea this sort of thing was even possible!" Kid exclaimed, sounding exasperated. Her tone softened a bit and she added, "Look, I'm sorry no one treated you like yourself when you were in Lynx's body, but don't take it out on me."

"I'm not!" Serge protested, though now that he thought about it maybe part of the reason he wanted Leena's mind to admit to being Kid was to get back at Leena for how she had treated him (or rather how she had treated Lynx) when his mind had been in Lynx's body. If that was the case he supposed he was being a bit unfair - the Leena whose mind and soul he was arguing with was a different version of Leena than the ones who had rejected Lynx.

"So you really think the mind and soul matter more than the body when deciding who someone is?" Serge wondered. He was actually rather torn regarding the issue - on the one hand, when he thought back to Lynx's adventures after Fort Dragonia the memories felt like they belonged to him. On the other hand, Harle had made what he felt was a pretty convincing argument that one's identity was not defined by what you felt inside, but rather by what other people saw you as on the outside.

Kid stared at Serge silently for a moment, then said firmly, "What I think is that I am a soul that likes to be called Leena, and I'm not going to stand for being ignored just because I'm not wearing my normal body."

"Oh. But what about the soul in that body that calls itself 'Kid', though?" Serge pressed.

"I don't mind you talking to her too. Just don't ignore me, and don't expect her to answer back."

Serge frowned. That wasn't what he had meant - he was still looking for an answer to his philosophical dilemma. However, he supposed he was asking too much of Kid right now - Serge had never known Leena to be all that philosophical. (For that matter, Kid hadn't been, either, back before merging with Schala.)

Deciding not to press the issue, Serge nodded to acknowledge Leena's permission to talk to Kid.

"So, now that we've cleared that up..." Kid said (or, he debated, should he think of her as Leena?). "Are you ready to say hello to me?"

"What? ...Oh, right. Hello Leena."

"Hello, Serge." With a nonchalance that seemed a little forced, she glanced at the racks of costumes to their sides. "So... Any luck finding a costume?"

"Not yet."

"Well then, we can look for our costumes together."

"Um... Okay," Serge said reluctantly.

o-o-o-o

While Leena (and thus Kid) and Serge looked through an assortment of evening gowns, tuxedos, and other fancy clothing, Kid thought about the conversation they had just had.

Kid had been rather pleased when Serge had said hello to her instead of Leena. Even if she wasn't in control of her body, she was still in it, and it was still hers; it was nice to have those facts acknowledged.

The following argument had come as a bit of a surprise to Kid. She would have expected Serge's mind-swap with Lynx to have made him feel the mind and soul were more important than the body, but it sounded like it had it had done the opposite. It also sounded like he still had some emotional wounds from the experience - something Kid could definitely sympathize with.

It was also interesting how similar Serge and Harle's points of view were. Kid had to wonder, just how much time had Serge and Harle spent together when Serge was in Lynx's body - and just how close had they gotten?

Of course, Kid mused, Serge and Harle's point of view was flawed - you couldn't tell who someone was just by how they looked. Take Frog for an example - was he no longer Glenn just because his form had been changed? And what about the changes in appearance all people go through as they age? And that wasn't even getting into the question of her own identity, which was complicated enough before she was possessed by Leena.

In the end, Kid felt that Leena had the right idea (at least regarding the question of identity) - decide for yourself who you are, and don't let the world disagree with you. On the other hand, she found it disorientating and a bit annoying when someone looked her in the face only to talk to Leena.

o-o-o-o

"Zo, Monsieur Robo, are you zaying zat if I were to ask you to call me 'Luna', or 'Artemis', or some odder name of my choosing, you would have no problems calling me zat instead of Harle?" Harle asked, as they walked into the yard.

"Did I not already do so, when you asked to be temporarily referred to as 'Quin'?"

"Zat does not count! Zat was obviously not my real name - it waz just a temporary alias for ze sake of a dare."

"I am not sure I understand the distinction."

Ignoring them, Marle crawled over to a lounge chair and lay down. It was nice to be out in the fresh air and warm sun after several dreary days and spending the last twenty four hours in a windowless dungeon.

o-o-o-o

"What Marian think?" Ayla asked, posing for her in her faux-fur leopard "skin".

"Very sexy, very primal. A bit more feminine than your normal look, but with those muscles showing no one is going to think that means you're weak. I like it."

Ayla nodded. "Good, good. Ayla like too. Maybe when leave Funhouse, Ayla take?"

"You'd have to pay for it, but I think that could be arranged."

"No worry. Ayla have much shiny stone."

"...Right..."

Ayla waited a moment to see if Marian had anything else to say, however Marian seemed more interested in looking Ayla over than talking. Ayla could see the poorly-concealed lust in Marian's eyes, and Ayla wondered if Marian was content to look, or if Ayla was going to have to find a way to gently let Marian down at some point. (After thinking about the matter and discussing it with Lucca, she had come to regret her brief fling with Harle and had no intention of repeating the mistake. Besides, Marian was a nice girl, and pretty too, but she just wasn't strong enough for Ayla's tastes.)

Ayla had just decided it wouldn't hurt to pose for Marian a little bit more when Lucca came crawling up at a rather impressive pace. After catching her breath, she said, "Marian, you're a pervert, right? I need your help piecing together a robot costume I can make out with Crono in."

Marian blinked in surprise, then after a moment said, "That sounds like an interesting challenge. I'll see what I can do."

Lucca was turning to head back to the robot section of the costume racks, when she finally noticed Ayla. "Oh! I didn't notice you there, Ayla. Nice outfit. Decided to go with something familiar, eh?"

Ayla nodded. "Remind me of furs Mother wore."

"You don't say." Lucca cocked her head. "By the way, you **are **wearing underwear with that, right?"

Ayla pulled up the hem of her skirt to reveal her tiger-striped bikini-bottoms.

Marian stared, a bit of drool escaping her mouth.

Lucca slapped herself on the forehead. "Ayla, stop showing off. Marian, ignore the cavewoman and come help me with my costume." When neither moved fast enough for her tastes, she grabbed Marian's hand and pulled, managing to drag her a few feet before Marian came out of her daze.

"All right, I'm coming," Marian told her, starting to walk on her own.

Curious what Lucca's costume would be like, Ayla let go of her skirt and followed after them.

o-o-o-o

The section of the costume racks Serge and Kid/Leena were in now seemed to be devoted to animal costumes - in particular frog suits, gorilla suits, bunny suits, and cat suits. Some of them were full-body fur-covered suits, but there were other variations as well - for instance, some "bunny" outfits consisted of bunny ears, a bathing suit, fishnet stockings, and high heels, while some cat-suits were made out of leather or rubber instead of cloth or fake-fur.

While Kid/Leena looked through the furry bunny suits, Serge checked out the furry cat suits. One of them had brown and white fur in a pattern similar to that of Lynx, and had a mask that bore a remarkable resemblance to Lynx. Looking at it, he couldn't help but think back to his memories of being Lynx. Not being recognized by his friends had been really hard, as had been dealing with the way so many people in El Nido looked down on demi-humans. However, just having the body of a humanoid cat really hadn't been all that bad - in fact, he rather missed it sometimes.

He pulled it off the rack and checked it's size. It was a little small, so he put it back and searched through the cat costumes some more. He found another suit with a similar color pattern that was in the same size, though this one had black tiger stripes in addition to the brown fur. It had a built in hood with triangular ears that rested higher up on the head than they did on Lynx, and the face was open. As he pulled it off the rack he noticed a face-paint kit lying on a nearby shelf; it had all the colors to color one's face the same as the costume (including black for the nose); he took this as well. He also noticed a black collar with a bell on it, but he left that on the shelf.

Leena noticed Serge's selection, and asked, "You're going to wear one of the cat costumes?"

Serge nodded.

"Wow, I guess you really have gotten over your fear of cats." She looked over the cat costumes herself, and asked, "Do you think I should get a matching suit?"

Serge thought about it. "It would look good on you... But I don't think it would really suit Leena's personality."

Kid/Leena scowled. "I am Leena."

Serge said hastily, "I know, I know. I was just saying which of you two it wouldn't suit."

Kid/Leena frowned. "So cat costumes suit you and Kid, but not me?"

"Well, I don't know if it actually suits me either... I just thought it would be fun to see what it was like to look like a cat without everyone being afraid of me."

"Hmm..." Kid/Leena looked over the costumes again, then said, "I suppose you're right. I'm more of a dog person, really. Too bad there aren't any dog costumes. Well, let's keep looking for a costume for me."

"Um, actually, I was going to go get changed into this."

Kid/Leena scowled at Serge for a moment, then said unhappily, "Fine. But come find me as soon as you're done!"

"Okay, fine," Serge responded, a bit annoyed that she was being so bossy.

As Serge crawled off to the changing area, Leena tried to put out of her mind her disappointment that Serge didn't care enough about what costume she chose to help her decide.

Turing her attention back to the cat costumes, she wandered over to a shiny black leather cat-suit. She ran her fingers over the smooth, cool material, and wondered what it would feel like to wear it. She was sure it would look quite sexy. Unfortunately, she didn't think she had the confidence to wear something like that, at least not without a dare telling her to wear that specific costume.

She made her way back to the bunny costumes. There was one furry pink one that looked really cute, but she didn't think it would look very good on Kid's body. She also liked the look of the skimpy bathing-suit and stockings bunny-suits, but as with the leather cat-suit didn't think she could bring herself to wear it.

"It's too bad you can't offer any suggestions, Kid," she said out loud.

o-o-o-o

"And the breast-plate is removable, so Crono will have easy access to your breasts when you play," Marian said, demonstrating how the curved piece of bronze-colored light-weight metal detached from the front of the feminine "robot" costume armor.

Crono and Lucca both blushed at this, though Lucca's blush couldn't be seen under her latex mask. When Lucca had thought of getting Marian's help she hadn't counted on the fact that Crono and Ayla would be around to hear Marian's suggestions.

Lucca asked, "But aren't we supposed to wear our costumes almost all the time? I mean wouldn't it ruin the effect of the costume to take off the armor and reveal... my bra?"

"True. And bare skin would be just as bad. I suppose you could cover them in metallic body paint, the same color as the armor..." Marian said thoughtfully.

"I don't know. That sounds kind of tacky," Lucca commented. She looked over at the costume they were modeling Lucca's costume on. "Actually, now that I think about it, I'll need something to cover the insides of my elbows and knees and some of the other joints in the armor... Maybe I could just wear a body suit under the armor?"

Marian's face lit up. "Brilliant! You're really getting into this. Of course, it should be form-fitting, and thin and flexible enough for you to feel someone's hands or other body parts through..." Marian frowned. "Actually, now that I think about it I think the only full body suits we have in your size have cat ears. We could always make a new one for you by painting you with latex, though."

Lucca frowned. "That sounds like a lot of work." She'd need to shave her entire body first, and then someone would need to paint the latex onto her, and she'd need to wait for it to dry before she could do anything else. Not to mention that if she understood Marian's intentions correctly Lucca would be naked for this, which would make the whole thing rather embarrassing.

Ayla spoke up. "Ayla thought all parts costume have to come from place where that type of costume is?"

"Oh, right!" Marian said in surprise. She said tentatively, "Well, as head of the supply room, I could put the suit we created in the robot section and say it belonged there... Assuming we could get the suit off of Lucca in one piece." She frowned. "I don't know what Mister Bekkler would say about that, though..."

Lucca shook her head. "Never mind about the latex. I saw a suit in with the robot costumes that is just a little large for me, it should do fine. Actually, having a few wrinkles in the rubber will work well with the look I'm going for." She crawled over to the robot costumes and pulled out a black rubber suit that left the feet, hands, and head bare. The arms and legs were a couple of inches too long, and it certainly wouldn't be skin-tight, but it actually would be less loose than the shirts she normally wore.

Marian pouted. "But wrinkly rubber isn't sexy."

Lucca rolled her eyes. "I never said I wanted a sexy robot costume - I just said I wanted a robot costume I could make out in."

Marian sighed. "Well, on that note, we have several robot helmets with removable mouth or face plates, so you can eat without taking the entire helmet off. Obviously, this will make kissing easier too - but in order to keep from ruining the effect of the costume, you should paint your face or at least your lips a color to match your costume."

Lucca thought for a moment, then said, "I've been noticing my latex mask is starting to get a bit tattered. Maybe we could replace it with one in black, to match my body-suit?"

Marian smiled. "That sounds like a good idea. Why don't you decide on a helmet, then we can go replace your mask."

"...Actually, I was hoping Crono could do it for me. He does have a little experience with latex, after all."

Marian pouted again. "You just love to take the fun out of my job, don't you?"

o-o-o-o

Serge zipped up the costume and pulled the hood up over his head, then turned to look in the mirror. Only his face was left exposed, the rest of him was covered in fluffy fake fur. Even his feet and hands were covered, his feet in built-in paw-slippers, and his hands in removable furry gloves. Hanging behind him from his rear was a stuffed tail. The belly and neck of the costume were white, as were the insides of the ears and the tip of the tail, while the rest of the costume was a light brown with dark brown tiger stripes. The costume was loose enough to break the illusion that it was his own fur, but it didn't bunch anywhere and it was in no danger of falling off him or tripping him up.

There was just one thing missing. Serge picked up the face-paint kit and frowned. It came with instructions, but he still wasn't confident he could do it himself and make it look any good. After a bit of debate, he decided to see if any of the other players might have the skill to paint his face like a cat.

Serge limped out of the changing room, wishing he'd brought his crutches with him to the Resource Room. He folded and stacked his old costume neatly outside the changing area, then taking his face-paint kit headed off to see if Leena had decided on a costume yet.

o-o-o-o

As Marian, Crono, and Lucca headed to the part of the Resource Room where the latex was stored, Marian and Lucca discussed some of the details of creating a new latex mask, and came to the conclusion it would be faster and easier to repair and repaint the old mask rather than creating a new mask from scratch.

Arriving at their destination, Marian got out the latex, a brush, and a pair of smocks. "Here, these are to help keep the latex off your costumes. You still need to be careful, though - those costumes are Funhouse property, and if you ruin them when it's not part of your dare, you'll have to pay for them." She put the items down on a bench, then asked, "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, that should do it."

"Okay. I'll go see about getting some lenses for your costume that will match your prescription."

Marian headed off, while Lucca took off her cowboy hat and the "cyborg" goggles she had been wearing.

Crono stared into her eyes, and Lucca found herself blushing under her mask. "What?"

"It's been a while since I've been able to see your eyes, and it's nice to see them again."

"Well, enjoy them while you can, because my robot helmet is going to have one-way lenses too. Anyway, let's get started."

They both donned their smocks, then Crono opened the can and dipped the brush into the black liquid. Lifting the brush to her face, he carefully ran it over her mask, leaving a trail of black behind it.

o-o-o-o

When Serge found Kid/Leena, she was staring at an elaborate white wedding dress. When she turned to see him, she gave a squeal of delight that sounded quite strange coming from Kid's mouth. "Oh, you look so cuuute!"

Serge scratched the back of his head. "Er... thanks?"

Kid/Leena turned back to the dress. "I was just taking a look at this dress. Don't you think that would look good on me?"

Serge hoped she was just talking about the costume dare, and wasn't trying to hint she was anxious to get married.

"Well, white does look good on you," Serge commented, deciding not to specify that he meant Kid. "But don't you think it would be a bit impractical to wear all the time?"

Kid/Leena sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so." She shook her head. "Finding a costume I want to wear in both Kid's body and my own is so hard!"

Not about to give up on finding a costume, Leena continued on to the next section of the costume storage area.

o-o-o-o

Crono frowned.

"What is it?"

"I got some latex on your hair."

Lucca sighed. "Don't worry about it too much. Marian managed the same thing when she made my purple mask. I'll need to cut my hair or leave the latex in it when I leave the Funhouse, but in the mean time it helps hold the mask on."

Crono nodded, and continued painting the second layer of black latex onto her face.

o-o-o-o

Growing impatient standing around waiting for Crono and Lucca, Ayla decided to head out to the yard. She could always see what their costumes looked like when they left the Resource Room.

She found Marle, Harle, and Robo in the yard already. "What you all think?" Ayla said, showing off her costume.

"Nice," Marle said. She giggled. "You look just like a cavewoman."

Harle said in a puzzled voice, "I thought she** was** a cavewoman."

Marle rolled her eyes. "She is. I was joking." Looking back at Ayla, she said, "But seriously, they actually let you wear a cavewoman costume?"

Ayla nodded. "Was much happy find nice furs."

Robo commented, "Although your new outfit is aesthetically pleasing, it is not authentic - that material is clearly synthetic."

Ayla tried to puzzle that out, but finally gave up. "What Robo say?"

Marle translated, "He likes how your costume looks, but he says it isn't real fur."

Ayla looked down at her outfit as she grasped a fold of it and felt it. "Ayla thought something strange about it. But if not fur, then what is it?"

"Er..." Marle looked over to Robo.

"I cannot be certain as to the exact materials used without closer examination, but it is clearly cloth with fibers woven into it in such a way as to imitate fur."

Ayla thought about it, then shrug. "It look good, keep warm. That all that matter."

Ayla walked over to where Marle was sitting. As she did so she looked down at her feet. "Soft grass feel nice, but strange to no wear boots."

"Yeah, feeling the grass between your toes can be nice. Too bad I'm stuck in this tail." Marle lifted her legs a bit, causing the end of her snake tail to flap a bit. "But why aren't you wearing your boots?"

As Ayla sat down next to Marle, Ayla said. "Can only wear clothing from place where I got furs - and no boots there."

"Oh. Well, going around barefoot isn't too bad. Korcha and most of the people in your village do it all the time, I'm sure you can handle it."

Ayla said confidently, "Ayla handle. Just need get used to it."

o-o-o-o

Crono finished putting the sealant on the latex, and stood back. "There, done."

Lucca nodded. "The sealant will need to dry before I put on my costume, but we might as well head over to the changing room now."

o-o-o-o

As she and Serge looked over the costumes again, trying to see if there was anything they missed, Leena was starting to feel a bit frustrated. The only costumes she'd seen that she liked and would look good on both Kid's body and her own were the mermaid costumes and the mummy costumes. However, she was tired of wearing a mermaid tail, and apparently Serge didn't like mummies.

They had just passed the section with the caveman outfits when a flash of green caught Leena's attention. Looking more carefully, she saw a small selection of skirts of grass or palm leaves, as well as leis and necklaces of flowers or shells. She didn't really like the skirts of brown grass, but the green palm fronds looked nice.

She looked around to see if there was anything to go with the palm skirt to cover her torso (or at least her breasts). There were a few floral-print t-shirts, but she didn't think they really went that well with the palm skirt. Digging through the pile, she found a pair of fake coconut-halves on a string; she considered them for a moment before rejecting them as too tacky. Finally, after some digging, she found a top she liked.

As an after thought, she grabbed a flower necklace and large fake tropical flower with a wire stem. Picking up everything she'd chosen, Leena turned to Serge. "Okay, I've decided on a costume. Lets head over to the changing rooms."

o-o-o-o

"Very sexy," Lucca said, looking over Crono in his pirate costume.

"Oh, I agree," Marian said. She then turned to Lucca. "So, ready to get in your costume?"

Lucca smiled. "Yeah. I can't wait to put it together and see what I look like in it!" She rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

"Do you want any help putting it on? It's a rather complicated design, after all. Also, some of the screws and whatnot are going to be at awkward angles for you to secure yourself."

Lucca shook her head, still smiling. "Figuring out how it all goes together is part of the fun. And if I do need help tightening any screws, I'll ask Crono for help when I get to that point."

"Okay, suit yourself."

As Lucca moved the pieces of the robot costume into the dressing room, she looked over the head-piece. It had large red-tinted reflective glass lenses about the same size as her normal glasses lenses for eyes. "By the way, how did you get the eyes made so quickly?" Lucca wondered.

"Oh, we had lenses made to your prescription for a number of different costumes after you signed up for the Funhouse. It was just a matter of switching the right lenses in."

Lucca blinked. "Oh. And here I thought it had something to do with time travel."

Marian giggled. "Well, it was Chronos' idea to do that, so you never know - maybe time travel **did** have something to do with it."

o-o-o-o

Back in the yard, the discussion had died down when Harle spoke up. "You know, you never finished ze story you were telling me earlier. You told me 'ow you got a time machine and saved Crono from certain death, but 'ow did you defeat ze Lavos monster?"

"Oh right! Um.. Where was I?"

"You 'ad just went into ze caves of ze island known as ze 'Giant's Claw' and found dinosaurs and Reptites still alive down zere... By ze way, I very much like zis part of ze story - it is nice to know zat even with Lavos hitting ze Earth ze Reptites still survived."

"Yeah, there aren't very many of them around, but they survived. Heck, one of them was a racer at the Millennial Fair!"

"Really? You did not mention zat before."

"Well, I can't mention every detail or the story would take forever to tell!"

"Yes, but I very much like ze Reptites."

"I know, I know. Sorry I didn't mention him earlier."

Ayla spoke up. "Harle want hear about Reptites? Ayla fight Reptites long time, have many story."

In an innocent sounding voice, Harle said, "You fought ze Reptites? But why?"

Marle rolled her eyes. "I already told you - they were trying to wipe out Ayla's tribe. Anyway, do you want me to tell this story or what?"

"Yes, Marle, please tell me about ze Reptites of ze Middle Ages."

"Right. So we were making our way deeper into the caves of the Giant's Claw, fighting giant bugs and dinosaurs..."

o-o-o-o

Crono blinked and stared at Serge for a moment when Serge and Kid/Leena arrived at the changing rooms.

"Oh, how cute!" Marian said, seeing Serge in his cat costume.

Serge frowned, and blushed.

Leena said, "Are there any spare changing rooms?"

Marian answered, "Of course. Why don't you use this one? By the way, what did you pick as a costume?"

Leena smirked. "You'll see." She put her costume items in the changing room, then turned and held up Kid's handcuffed hands. "Anyone want to help me get these off so I can get changed?"

After Marian had unlocked Leena's handcuffs, Leena headed back into the changing room and closed the door behind her.

o-o-o-o

Getting the rubber body-suit on hadn't been too hard, thanks to the fact that it wasn't skin-tight on her and it had a zipper down the front; Lucca was sure it would have been much harder if either of those things hadn't been the case.

Putting on her glasses (which she had brought with her in case she chose a costume that didn't include built-in lenses, never guessing she'd need them just to put on a costume) she now turned her attention to the armor pieces. She and Marian had gone all out putting together the costume; unlike some of the other robot costumes, this one included actual metal (a lightweight metal that wouldn't stand up to actual battle, but which should be strong enough to not bend or break while she was wearing it) and several of the pieces would need to be secured together with screws, nuts, and bolts.

She laid out the pieces and examined them, seeing how they connected and planning out what order to put them on. Once she had a plan, she went over to the toolbox Marian had provided her, grinning widely - this was going to be fun!

o-o-o-o

As Leena started to pull off Kid's gloves, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and she glanced over to see a mirror - and Kid's image reflected in that mirror. Abandoning undressing for the moment, she walked over to the mirror and stared into it. It was quite strange and disorientating to look into the mirror and see someone else's face. She made a few faces, and struck several poses, just to convince herself it was really a mirror she was looking in.

Seeing Kid's face in the mirror really drove home the fact that she was wearing Kid's body. "Wow, this really is pretty strange." She stared at Kid's body in the mirror for a little while longer, then decided to get back to the task at hand. However, as she started to pull off Kid's jacket, it occurred to her that it was Kid's body she was undressing.

She gulped, and started to blush. "Er... I'm sorry Kid, but for my dare I have to put on a costume, which means I have to take off your clothes." She chuckled nervously. "I hope you don't mind..."

Hoping that the fact that she hadn't been pushed out of Kid's body and back into her own meant that Kid was okay with this, she finished pulling off Kid's jacket. She then sat down on the bench in the room and started unwinding the cloth from around Kid's feet.

o-o-o-o

Crono and Serge had been standing around waiting for a while when the door to Lucca's changing room opened. From her waist down she was covered in bronze-colored armor held together with bolts and screws much like Robo's armor, except at certain joints where her black rubber body suit showed through. (The knees had protective plates in front, and sliding discs connecting the upper and lower pieces at the sides, but the back of the knee was covered only by rubber. The ankle joints were more complex, with overlapping metal plates, but even here rubber would show in places if she bent her foot too far the wrong way. The hip joints on the other hand were simpler, without any connection between the armor plates at all, and her the rubber was obvious.) Similar armor was on her arms and hands (the elbow and finger joints were of similar design to the knee joints, while the wrist joints were closer in design to that of the ankle joints), but her torso was covered only in the body-suit. She hadn't put on the robot helmet or mask, but thanks to the neck of the body suit and the matching black latex on her face the only bits of skin showing on her were here ears and eyelids.

With a grimace, she said, "It looks like Marian was right - I can't tighten all the nuts and bolts connecting the torso pieces by myself. You think you could help me, Crono?"

Crono nodded and stepped into the changing room.

o-o-o-o

As Leena used Kid's eyes to look in the changing room mirror, Kid took in the costume Leena had put her in. Bare feet and legs, a palm-frond skirt (with green underwear underneath) that went down about two thirds of the way to her knees at the tips of the leaves, though more of her legs became visible between the fronds when Leena moved her legs. A skimpy, mid-riff baring tank top in pale green with a palm-leaf print. And complementing the ensemble, a necklace of flowers and a flower in her hair (which Leena had taken out of it's braid). For the moment Leena had left the white markings Kid wore on her face and arms where they were, but they actually worked pretty good with the outfit.

_"I never would have expected Leena to choose an outfit like this!" _Kid thought. "_And here I always thought Leena was a prude!" _Despite her surprise, Kid had to admit it didn't look half bad. _"I'm just glad she didn't go with those coconuts!"_

When Kid felt a bit of a blush coming to her face, she realized her earlier assessment of Leena wasn't as far off as she had thought.

"Wow", Leena said with wide eyes. "I was hoping this outfit would look sexy, but I had no idea it would look this sexy. I hope you don't mind wearing it, Kid." Then she rolled her eyes. "What am I saying? This isn't much more skimpy than what you normally wear, and it's a lot more modest than your bikini."

_"Yeah, ain't a problem. You'd have to do a lot worse than this to make me die of embarrassment." _Kid thought.

Leena continued, "I just hope I can bring myself to wear it when I'm in my own body..."

She shook her head then grabbed her handcuffs and put them back on. (Having done it once before she got them on pretty quickly.) Looking down at them, she complained, "These really don't go with my costume." She shook her head again, and opened the door and stepped out.

o-o-o-o

Even though he'd known what kind of outfit Leena had been picking, Serge was still astonished to see Kid step out of the changing room in palm fronds, flowers, and a rather skimpy top.

"Leena? Is that really you in there?" He asked, just to be sure

"Of course it is! What, is there something wrong with my costume?" Her voice held anger mixed with insecurity.

"No, it's great! I love it. I just never expected to see you in something so..."

"Skimpy? Sexy?" Marian offered helpfully. "Seriously, that's a great choice, Leena."

"Thanks." She held up her handcuffed hands. "By the way, you don't have any handcuffs that would match my costume, do you? Maybe something made of wood or bamboo?"

Marian thought about it a moment. "Sorry, but no."

Leena sighed. "Oh well." She turned to Serge and said, "Do you want to wait for Crono and Lucca, or should we head back?"

Serge thought about it and said, "Let's wait for them in the yard."

"Okay."

As Leena grabbed Kid's clothing (as well as Kid's lock-pick which Leena had found hidden in Kid's hair) from the changing room, Serge turned to Marian. "By the way, I was wondering - can I wear clothing over this costume?"

Marian shook her head. "That's supposed to be a cat costume, not a demi-human costume, and the only clothing cats wear is collars. So no."

"Do you have any demi-human cat costumes?"

"Not at the moment, no."

"What do you mean not at the moment?"

"Oh, we're supposed to get some new costumes in a couple of days, but you have to pick your costume out of what we have right now so that doesn't do you much good."

Leena said, "I wish we had known that before - maybe we could have delayed this dare until then."

Serge said quietly, "Leena..." and when she looked at him shook his head, trying to tell her not to advertise the fact that Robo had used his ability to control the speed he spun the Dare Wheel selected their dare.

Marian just smiled. "Trust me, it was a good thing for you that you got this dare now."

"Oh? Why's that?"

Marian's smile grew sneaky. "Sorry - that's a secret!"

o-o-o-o

"- So I jumped through the window into the courtroom."

"Ow! Zat must 'ave been very painful."

"Huh? No, not really."

"But... Glass, it is very hard, no?"

"By this point we'd all gotten pretty strong..."

"And when glass breaks, isn't it sharp? I am sure I remember zis fact."

"I was wearing armor."

"Oh yes, I had forgotten zis fact. What sort of armor was it? If you were not harmed by jumping through a window, it must have been a full suit, covering your face and everyt'ing, yes?"

"Er... No, it mostly just covered my torso."

"Sacrebleu! Zen why were your arms and face not cut?"

"I... don't know... I never really thought about that before. I guess I was just lucky."

o-o-o-o

Crono turned the wrench until the nut wouldn't turn anymore, then stepped back and walked around in front of her. Lucca lowered her arm, and looked down at the armor covering her chest. It was bronze-colored, like the rest of her armor, and extended from the base of her neck down to an inch or so below her breast-bone (below which the rubber of her body-suit was revealed, as planned). It was composed of a number of different pieces, including shoulder coverings, three pieces running across her front (a curved one covering her breasts, and pieces above and below it), and one piece in back.

Wanting to test how it felt when she moved, she shifted around a bit. Frowning at the results, she said, "Crono, was there any more room to tighten the bolts that adjust how tight the armor fits?"

Crono nodded.

"Well do it. It could get really irritating if the armor jiggles and shifts every time I move."

"I just didn't want to make it too tight."

"I'll tell you if it gets too tight."

After a few more adjustments, Lucca was finally satisfied with how the armor fit. She moved over in front of the mirror and examined herself, experimenting with moving in the armor as she did so. "Very nice. Alright, Crono, ready to put my helmet and mask on?"

Crono held up his index finger, and walked over to her and had her turn to face him. "I want one last look at your face before we cover it up."

Lucca rolled her eyes, and said with a smile, "You silly romantic. My face is already covered in latex."

"I can still see it better this way than I'll be able to once you have that metal mask on."

"True."

After Crono had stared at Lucca's face for a few moments, he gave her a quick peck on the lips. Crono then moved to get her helmet and mask, while Lucca took off her glasses and put them down on the bench.

The helmet/mask had three pieces. One piece covered the back half of the head except for the ears. The second piece covered the front part of the face including the ears (each ear had a raised grating over it backed with thin black cloth) and under the jaw (special sliding joints with springs would allow her to lower her jaw enough to eat) but left the area from the tip of her nose to her chin and from one corner of her mouth to the other uncovered. The final piece was a grating backed with thin black cloth much like the ear coverings, which fit into the opening in the front piece; it was already in place on the front piece.

Crono held the back piece up to the back of her head, then put front piece in place over her face. "Could you hold those?"

"Yeah, sure," Lucca said as she moved to do that. She wound up having to re-adjust the front piece, because moving her jaw with the mask unsecured had moved the mask too.

Crono grabbed some nuts and bolts and a wrench, and began securing the two helmet/mask pieces together. After the last bolt was in place, he asked, "How's that?"

Lucca grasped the helmet and tried to shift it around on her head. "Good. You actually got it right on your first try this time!" She paused, held her hand to her chin for a moment. "Gee, it didn't occur to me that the way the mouth-plate fits into the mask I wouldn't really be able to move my jaw while it's in. Not that there would be much point to moving my jaw right now, but it still feels kind of restrictive." She shook her head. "Oh well, I'm sure I'll get used to it."

She moved back to the mirror and examined herself again. "Wow, with this mask I really do look like a robot."

Crono nodded. "I'm glad I got to help you put on the mask, or I might wonder if it was really you in there."

Lucca said dryly, "Don't you think the voice would have given it away?"

"Well yeah... And the way you move. But it's still a really impressive costume."

Lucca nodded. "That it is." She inclined her head. "Before we go anywhere I want to check that the pieces that are meant to be easily removable really are."

She went over to the toolbox and grabbed a screwdriver. She then returned to the mirror and carefully removed four screws from the edges of the grating over her mouth. The grating stayed in place, but when she grasped it she was then able to slide it out from the mask. She grinned at Crono from behind her latex mask. "Great. And that's all I'll have to do if I want to eat while wearing my mask. Or if I want to kiss you. ...And it looks like the joint for the jaw works, too."

Crono moved in closer. "Let's test the part about being able to kiss with your mask on."

"Sounds like a good idea."

After a successful kissing test, Lucca said, "The next piece I want to test is the breast plate." Unlike when Marian had demonstrated it, the curved piece of metal covering her breasts was now attached to her chest armor with several screws. Lucca retrieved her screwdriver and began loosening the screws. She caught the first screw herself when it came out and put it on the bench; after that Crono grabbed them. Crono also steadied the breast plate as she undid the last screw, and then pulled it loose. Even though he had already seen her with only the body-suit covering her breasts, he couldn't help but look again for a moment before turning to put the breast-plate and screws down on the bench.

Lucca said thoughtfully, "We should make sure I can feel enough through the rubber - it'd be a shame if my body suit prevented us from taking advantage of the design of my armor." Waiting until Crono's eyes had returned to her chest, she raised her gauntleted right hand to her right breast, and began rubbing, squeezing, and kneading it. "Hmm... I can't feel as much as I could through cloth, but I think I can feel enough - and the rubber does feel kind of good against my skin... Why don't you try?"

"Are you sure?" Crono asked. She had been uncomfortable even letting him see her in just her bra, and now she was encouraging him to play with her breast (even if there was a layer of rubber in the way)?

Lucca paused. She wasn't sure if it was just the excitement of getting a neat new costume, or if it was how safe and protected wearing all this rubber and armor made her feel, but the idea of Crono playing with her breasts or even doing other sexual things she could think of didn't make her feel as nervous as it had when she had only a bra and a snake tail between him and her body. Of course, she had meant to discuss how far they were allowed to go with Marle before proceeding any further in any make-out sessions, but Crono said Marle had let him play with her breasts before - so Marle couldn't complain if she did the same thing, could she?

Lucca nodded. "I'm sure." To encourage him, she grabbed his wrist and moved his hand up to her left breast.

Crono took the hint, and began gently rubbing and kneading her breast.

"Harder," Lucca told him. "I can barely feel you." Crono began putting more pressure into his play, and she moaned in pleasure. "That's the ticket."

Crono took her other breast with his other hand, and her moans increased in volume - to the point he began to worry that Leena (who last he knew was still in the other changing room) or someone else outside might hear.

After a minute or two, Lucca held up her hand and told him to stop. "That's enough for now. We need to get back to the others soon."

Crono nodded, and after giving each breast one more squeeze for good measure, stepped back.

After getting her breathing under control, Lucca said, "There's one more piece I want to make sure comes off all right."

Lucca took the screwdriver, and spread her legs a bit. To Crono's surprise, Lucca began undoing some screws from the edge of the armor that covered between her legs. Lucca found getting the right angles for this tougher than she'd hoped, and she had to sit down on the bench on her tail-bone with her legs spread wide to manage. Even with her newly discovered confidence Lucca was a bit embarrassed to be in such a lewd position, but she didn't let that slow her down.

Finally she got the last screw out, and with a bit of careful manipulation pulled out the metal piece between her legs. Crono found the sight rather exiting, even though the rubber of her body suit didn't show any more details than the pants she normally wore did.

"Well, that was more work than I like... I'm not sure if it's easier than taking off the armor 'briefs' entirely or not..."

Lucca started to sit up straighter, but as Crono took one last look at the rubber between her legs he noticed a seam running along it. Hesitantly, he asked, "Does your rubber suit have... an opening down there?"

"Well, there's a zipper, but yeah." Lucca sounded a bit uncomfortable with the subject.

Starting to blush, Crono asked, "Were you planning on... you know... while wearing that costume?"

"What? Go to the bathroom? Yeah, I figured it would be a pain to have to take all this off every time I needed to go, and judging by how much work it was to get it all on, I think I was right."

"Oh." That hadn't been what Crono had been thinking of, but he decided not to bring up his idea. He wasn't close to being ready to have sex with Lucca, and when and if he ever was he would want to be able to see her face when they did it.

"Well, anyway, now to see if I can get this back on." As when taking them out it took a bit of contorting to get at the screws closer to her rear, but she managed, after which the rest of the screws were easy.

Standing back up, she said, "Why don't you help me get the rest of my costume back on, then we can go show the others."

o-o-o-o

A few minutes later, Crono and Lucca finally stepped out of the changing room.

Marian whistled. "Wow, that costume came out better than I expected. Now I see where you were going with the bronze and the loose rubber... It's not as sexy as the costume I would have designed on my own, but this costume suits you better."

"Um... Thanks?" Lucca said, not sure the proper response to that.

_To Be Continued..._

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

A.N.: I can't believe it took me 29 pages to get all of the Red Team in their new costumes! I really need to work on my pacing! (Not that this chapter wasn't quite fun to write, and I hope fun to read.)

I also can't believe I never noticed before that Crono and Ayla were in violation of the costume rules the entire time they were performing the Cyborg Cowperson Merperson dare. I considered simply going back and correcting it when I finally noticed it, but decided I rather like having it be a mistake on the part of the staff and players.


	25. Episode Eighteen Part 2

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

by Chronos Cat

Episode Eighteen Chapter Two

Round Five Part Two (Continued)

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

"So the carpenter and his team headed back to the mansion to continue repairs..." Marle said.

Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, Ayla sat up and looked over towards the Resource Room door. "Serge, Kid come, wear costume!" she said excitedly, standing up. She glanced over at Marle. "Leena in Kid now?" she asked, not sure if the possession dare had started yet.

Marle nodded. "Yeah, and Leena still wants to be called Leena even though she's in Kid's body."

"What else would Ayla call Leena?" Ayla said, puzzled.

Marle shook her head. "Never mind."

Ayla dashed over closer to the window to get a better look at them. "Serge costume look like animal... cat? And Leena and Kid costume look like person from Ioka or Laruba who no can get furs..."

Marle stared at Kid/Leena's outfit. "Wow, I never would have expected Leena to pick a costume like that!"

Serge and Kid/Leena parted at the door to the yard; Serge headed to the Red Room to get his crutches, while Leena decided to head out into the yard to say hello to the others and show off her costume.

"So what do you think?" Leena asked as soon as she was in the Yard.

"Very nice - both cute and sexy." Marle said.

Robo nodded. "Quite aesthetically pleasing."

Taking a look at Ayla's costume, Leena commented, "Wow, it was lucky for you they had costumes so similar to how you normally dress."

Ayla nodded. "Costume make Ayla happy." Ayla then cocked her head. "Resource Room have more furs - if Leena want dress like Ioka or Laruba villager, why no wear them?"

"Actually, this is supposed to be a 'Islander' costume."

"Islander?"

"Yeah, there are stories of people living on tropical islands that dress like this. I don't know how true those stories are, but as a kid I always dreamed of being one of those island girls, living in a tropical paradise and running around wearing only just enough leaves to preserve my modesty."

Ayla nodded. "Now Leena get live out half of dream."

"I hadn't thought of it that way... It's just too bad it's the less important half - the tropical paradise part is the part I was really interested in."

o-o-o-o

When Crono and Lucca stepped out of the Supply Room, everybody stared - particularly at Lucca. Ayla had been the only one besides Marian and Crono with any idea what Lucca's costume would look like - and seeing Lucca and Marian discussing the pieces didn't prepare Ayla for what the costume would look like put together.

Before Crono and Lucca had the time to figure out where they were going, Marle rushed to the door (she was getting pretty fast at crawling in her naga-ette costume) and stuck her head out. "Crono! Lucca! Come on out here and show off your costumes!"

Once they were out in the yard, Lucca found herself the center of attention.

"Wow, that's an incredible costume, Lucca. ...Er, that is really you in there, Lucca, right?" Marle asked.

Lucca nodded. "Yes, it's me."

"Okay, good. I thought so, but I just wanted to be sure. I mean we can't even see your face in that costume."

Ayla commented, "Look like small sexy Robo."

Robo added, "If I did not know differently, I could be led to believe that you were a later model of robot derived from the R-Series designs."

Scratching her head, Harle asked, "So now we 'ave two robots in ze 'ouse?"

Playing along with Harle's act, Marle explained, "No, Lucca's just wearing a very good costume."

Kid/Leena said, "Wow. I'm almost jealous. But what made you decide to go with a robot costume?"

"Well, I've always loved robots. So when I saw the collection of robot costumes in the Supply Room, I couldn't resist."

Looking over the costume, Marle noticed the rubber covering her lower torso and showing through beneath the joints. "Say, aren't you hot in that?"

"I'm not bad right now, but now that you mention it, I will have to be careful not to overheat." She put her hand to her chin in thought. "I suppose I'll need to avoid the sun as much as possible and drink lots of water."

Turning her attention to Crono, Marle said, "You've got a pretty good costume too." She crawled up to him and ran her hand down his chest. "I particularly like how there's no shirt."

Crono looked down at her and smiled hesitantly.

Lucca turned to look at them. "Hey, what do you think you're doing, Marle?"

"Oh, come on, don't try to tell me you didn't want to do the same thing."

"But we're in public!"

Marle stuck out her tongue. "We're among friends. Besides, you're just jealous you're not brave enough to do this sort of thing."

"I'm not jealous, I just don't think it's appropriate to be doing that in public."

Before the argument could proceed any further, Serge stepped outside, and crutched over to the group which had just started to disperse. His attention was immediately drawn to Lucca's costume.

After staring at it for a moment Serge said, "That's quite the costume."

"Thanks. I like your costume too - you look cute in it."

Marle chimed in, "Yeah, you look really cuddly."

Serge found himself blushing.

Leena said, "Don't forget he's mine, girls. You have your own guy."

"Hey, we were just saying he looked cute - that doesn't mean we're interested in him," Marle protested. "He's not really my type - I mean, he talks a bit too much for my tastes."

Serge raised an eyebrow, and Leena asked in a puzzled voice, "Serge talks too much?"

Marle and Lucca giggled, and Crono rolled his eyes. After a moment, Leena joined in on the giggling.

"I do not understand," Harle commented.

Marle shook her head. "Never mind, Harle."

"If you say so..."

Crono glanced over Serge's costume, then raised an eyebrow in an expression that suggested he wasn't particularly impressed by it, and didn't get why Serge would want to wear it, but wasn't going to make an issue out of it either.

Harle asked, "By zee way, what iz it you are dressed as, Monsieur Serge?"

"I'm supposed to be a cat."

"But your face, it looks no-zing like a cat!"

"Actually I got some face paint to use to paint my face to look like a cat... But I didn't think I could do it very well on my own, so I was going to look for someone to help me."

"I know a zing or two about ze painting of faces. Perhaps I could be of assistance?"

Leena spoke up. "Oh no you don't! I'm not letting you anywhere near my man. Don't think I've forgotten how you were trying to steal him back when the Funhouse started."

"Really, Kid, zis is none of your business - it is not you who is in a relationship wit' Serge, it is Leena."

"I** am** Leena!" the girl in question fumed.

"I still say you do not look like Leena. At any rate you do not need to worry - I no longer 'ave any interest in monsieur Serge; I was merely offering to help 'im as a fellow player."

"You expect me to believe that?"

While Leena and Harle argued, Lucca took Robo aside. "You don't mind me wearing this costume, do you?"

"I do not understand. Why would I mind?"

"I don't know... It must be strange for you, having someone dressing up like a robot."

"I admit I have never seen a human dressed up as a robot before; however it is certainly no more strange than many other things that have happened over the course of this game." He paused then added, "Am I correct in assuming that the design of your costume was partially inspired by my design?"

Lucca dug at the grass with her foot in a embarrassed manner. "Well, yeah. I've always liked your design."

"Thank you. I am quite flattered."

Meanwhile, Serge wandered over to Ayla. After looking over her, he commented, "Nice costume."

"Thank you. Ayla choose this skin because it remind Ayla of what Ayla's mother wore."

"Then your mother had good taste." Serge looked over her costume again thoughtfully. "You know, that outfit reminds me of someone too - a girl who fought alongside my team against the Dragon Gods and the Time Devourer."

"Oh? Who is girl?"

"Her name was Leah. She lived on Gaia's Navel, an island full of dinosaurs. She wore a tunic a lot like the one you're wearing, and she talked a bit like you too, except that she liked to add 'um' to her words."

Ayla's eyes widened and she grew pale. "Ayla's mother name Leah," she said quietly. After a moment she stepped closer to Serge and said urgently, "Leah Serge meet - she have hair like Ayla? She have striped tail - real tail that move on own?"

Serge's eyes widened, and he took a step back. "Uh... Yes. How did you know?"

"Leah Serge meet is Ayla's mother!" Ayla shouted in excitement. At this shout, everyone turned to stare at her. Leena and Harle stopped arguing to listen in, while the others all came over to hear what this was about.

"But how is that possible?" Serge asked. "I met Leah just a few months ago - and you're from millions of years ago, aren't you?"

Ayla nodded, then explained, "When Ayla was child Mother tell of when Mother was child. Mother fight Land Anger, find self in distant jungle all alone. After many adventure, fall through swirling blue hole, land at Mystic Mountains near Ioka village. Join Ioka, live in village many year before fall in love with Ayla father and have Ayla."

Marle said, "A swirling blue hole... You mean a Time Gate?"

Ayla nodded.

Harle's eyes narrowed at this, but as everyone's attention was on Ayla, no one noticed.

Marle exclaimed, "Wow! That's incredible! So does that mean your mom came from this time period? Or was she a cavewoman who was transported to this time period then returned home?"

"Ayla no know."

Serge said, "She didn't look or act like any human or demi-human I've ever met. But she never said much about her past - just that she was part of a village before fighting the 'Land Anger' and that after fighting it she wound up on Gaia's Navel. She never even explained what the Land Anger was."

Ayla asked Serge, "Leah still on Gaia's Navel?"

"I don't know. After we defeated the Time Devourer history was altered, and I haven't been back to Gaia's Navel or seen her since."

Ayla frowned, and said softly, "Ayla mother die when Ayla child... No see long time. Maybe Ayla leave Funhouse, see if mother still on island?"

Marle opened her mouth to complain that she didn't want Ayla to leave the game, then thought better of it. Instead she crawled over to Ayla and put her hand on Ayla's back in a comforting manner (since she couldn't reach Ayla's shoulder). "If I had a way to meet my mother again I wouldn't let anything stop me from doing it. So I'll understand if you go... But if you do I'll miss you."

Serge warned, "Getting to Gaia's Navel won't be easy. The island is surrounded on all sides by cliffs too smooth to climb. When I went there we had to fly."

"Fly? You have Dactyls in El Nido? Ayla thought Dactyls all die long ago."

"What's a 'Dactyl'?" Serge asked.

Ayla did her best to describe them.

Serge said thoughtfully, "We do have a few creatures like that in El Nido, mostly on Gaia's Navel - but that's not how we got to Gaia's Navel. We had to use a Wingapede - a giant flying centipede."

"How get Wingapede?"

"You need to go to an open space in Hydra marshes, blow on a Beeba Flute to call it, and then feed it an Ancient Fruit to get its' trust. But you can only get the flute and fruit from Beebas - and they don't like humans."

Ayla said in a determined voice, "Ayla find way make Beeba give flute, fruit."

Lucca spoke up. "I understand how important this is for you. But you know, if you just waited until Belthesar finished upgrading the Epoch, we could use the Epoch to fly there."

Ayla frowned. "What if mother at Gaia's Navel now, no there when Belthesar done?"

"Belthesar did say once he was finished with the Epoch it would be able to travel to more time periods. It's possible one of those time periods might be one with your mother in it. Or, if there is a Gate on Gaia's Navel, we could go through it to meet with her."

"Lucca no sound sure," Ayla pointed out with a bit of an accusing tone.

Lucca sighed. "You're right. I don't know if either of those possibilities will work."

Then another thought occurred to Ayla. "If Ayla go to time before Ayla born, what if Ayla mess up history?"

Crono, Marle, Lucca, and Robo glanced at each other. Lucca spoke for all of them when she answered, "We take that risk every time we travel through time."

"Ayla no think of it that way before... To Ayla every time we travel to is 'future'." After thinking about it for a moment, she concluded, "Was worth risk to stop Lavos. Maybe worth risk to fix other problems. But is worth risk all history just so Ayla can see mother again...?"

Lucca said hesitantly, "The chances of something going wrong are pretty low... Out of all our trips through time we've only accidentally changed history twice - when Marle was mistaken for Queen Leene, and when we did whatever we did that caused the rise of Porre and the fall of Guardia. And the first time we had enough warning to fix things before it was too late."

"But what if this like Pore and Guardia? What if Ayla change history and no know until too late? What if can do nothing to fix? ...Not just Ayla time messed up - change affect all history!"

"Maybe, maybe not. Generally when an event in the past is changed, the effects on later time periods are limited - if at all possible the overall flow of history remains the same. So long as humanity survives Lavos' impact and you don't interfere in your own birth or prevent yourself from having kids, the rest of the time periods ought to remain mostly unchanged."

Ayla frowned. "Still chance things go very bad. Maybe go bad even if no go back in time, just talk to mother on Gaia's Navel!"

Lucca shook her head. "Actually, it should be perfectly safe to talk to her in this time period. According to our current understanding of time travel, the version of your mother that exited that Gate and eventually gave birth to you is protected from alteration - nothing that occurs to the Leah in this time period will affect her."

Marle spoke up. "Wait, this is like Kid was saying earlier, isn't it? Since the version of Leah that arrived in the past is protected, the moment the version in this time goes back in time she gets replaced by the old version? She wouldn't even remember anything Ayla told her, would she?"

Ayla looked concerned about this revelation. When Lucca hesitated in answering, Ayla insisted, "Lucca talk! It what Marle say true?"

Lucca still hesitated a moment before saying quietly, "Yes. She could even be killed by a rampaging dinosaur on Gaia's Navel and the version of her in the past would be fine."

"Ayla no like time travel if this how work. If new Leah replaced by old, where new Leah go?"

"To the Darkness Beyond Time. The same place Marle went when she was erased from existence, where Schala wound up after the Ocean Palace incident, and where Serge and Kid fought the Time Devourer."

"Ayla no want mother sent there. Maybe Ayla stop her from going into Gate?"

"That may not be possible. We don't know how she wound up in the past - it might not even have been a Gate. And do you remember when we talked to the survivors of Zeal shortly after it fell? They told us strange black portals had opened up and swallowed Janus and Melchior. Kid and I think that's because in the previous timeline Melchior and Janus had been sent forward in time - so at the same point in the timeline the new versions were sent into the Darkness Beyond Time."

"Melchior and Janus in Darkness Beyond Time? We go rescue them! Rescue Leah if she sent there, too."

Marle nodded. "That's a great idea. Can we do that, Lucca?"

"I... don't know. We'd have to talk with Kid about it. Maybe Belthesar too..."

Ayla, Marle, Lucca, and Crono all thought about this new goal, of rescuing those wiped from existence thanks to the laws of time travel. If it was even possible, it would likely be a daunting task. Just how many people would they have to rescue? If the numbers were large, where would those people go? And what sorts of monsters and other adversaries might be waiting in the Darkness Beyond Time to strike back at those most responsible for their erasures? Not to mention the challenge of simply getting into and back out of reality's trash-bin. Still, the knowledge that they had condemned countless souls to the Darkness Beyond Time weighed heavily on the time-travelers, and if they could do anything to help those souls they felt obliged to do so.

Turning her mind back to her dilemma of whether to leave the Funhouse early to seek out Leah or wait until she was evicted or the game was over, Ayla said, "Ayla have much think about. Talk later." She then headed over to sit by the pool and think.

o-o-o-o

As Marle, Lucca, and Leena engaged in small talk, Kid reflected on the past few minutes.

Kid had been as surprised as anybody else by Lucca's choice of costume. _"I know Sis has always liked robots, but this is ridiculous." _Kid couldn't wait until the possession dare was over so she could ask Lucca what was going through her mind when she chose that costume - though she was a little afraid to find out.

Kid also wanted to ask Serge about his costume. It couldn't be a coincidence that he chose not just a cat costume but one with fur patterns similar to that of Lynx. Earlier Serge had sounded traumatized by his time as Lynx - was this some harebrained attempt at therapy?

Speaking of Serge's costume, Kid wondered if Leena would have objected to Kid being the one to paint Serge's face. Kid's knowledge of face paint extended only to ordinary makeup and the paint she used to put the markings on her face and arms, but Kid did like to think she had some artistic skill - even if she hadn't had much time or opportunity to practice since she was a little kid.

Still, the thing that weighed on Kid's mind more than anything was the discussion about rescuing people from the Darkness Beyond Time. It was a noble goal, but Kid feared there wouldn't be anyone to rescue, aside perhaps from Leah and alternate versions of Crono, Marle, Lucca, and their friends. Although any course of history erased by alterations to the past was sent into the Darkness Beyond Time, it was usually only in an ethereal fashion - only those like Marle and Schala who were physically sent into the Darkness could ever be freed from it. Worse yet, the Time Devourer had consumed everything and everyone it encountered within the Darkness - yet another reason her memories of the Time Devourer haunted her.

Although, now that she thought of it, she did not remember the Time Devourer consuming Janus or Melchior. Granted, she couldn't and didn't want to remember every last individual who had lost what was left of their life to the Devourer, but she would have expected Janus' death to stick in her memory whether she liked it or not. Perhaps he had escaped the Darkness much like that version of Magus who had tried to rescue her from the Time Devourer's immature form, the Dream Devourer. Or perhaps those black gates didn't lead to the Darkness Beyond Time after all. If only she knew for sure...

However, whatever the young Janus fate, when she, Serge, and their friends had departed the Darkness it had been left empty of everything but substance-less echoes. If Crono and his team were to enter the Darkness, the only people they would find to rescue there were those who had been sent there after the Time Devourer's destruction.

o-o-o-o

Not wanting to fight with Leena about Harle doing his face paint if he didn't have to, Serge asked around to see if anyone else felt they had the artistic skill to handle it. Marle, Lucca, and Crono all said they didn't. Ayla felt she could learn, but wasn't in the mood right now. Leena said she was willing to try, but was afraid she'd be too clumsy, between her handcuffed hands and being in a new body.

Finally, Robo volunteered for the job. He warned that he had no experience with face painting and no artistic creativity, but having looked over the instructions he felt he could reproduce the image shown there.

As the instructions said to wash and dry your face first, Serge didn't feel like having an audience as his face was painted, he and Robo headed back to the Red Room to do the face painting.

o-o-o-o

"Ooh, you look even more cute now!" Leena exclaimed when Serge and Robo returned. Robo had been true to his word - the paint job was an almost exact replica of the image shown in the instructions for the face-paint kit. Most of Serge's face was a shade of brown similar to that of his costume, except for a "muzzle" of white around his mouth, and the underside and sides of his nose which were painted in a downward facing black triangle. A few lines here and there in related colors provided shadows, "whiskers", and the hint of "fur".

"My my," Harle commented, "You look much like monsieur Lynx - except 'e does not go around in only 'is fur. In fact, you look so much like ze petit chat zat I zink zat is what I shall call you - Monsieur Chat."

Everyone had to have a second look at Serge now that his costume was complete; Serge found himself quite embarrassed by the attention. Thankfully Marle and Lucca were the only others to talk about how "cute" he looked. Ayla complimented him on the look and Robo on the paint job, while Crono remained silently unimpressed.

After a little while the group began to split up again. Ayla wandered off to a corner of the yard to think about her dilemma some more. Lucca took Marle aside and told her she needed to talk to her in private, and the two of them headed to the Gray Room. Crono decided to stretch his legs after several days in the merman costume and asked those remaining if they wanted to spar; only Serge took him up on the offer. Finally, as Leena, Robo, and Harle had nothing they felt like talking with each other about, they all headed their separate ways as well.

o-o-o-o

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about, Lucca?" As she looked over Lucca's faceplate, Marle wished she could see Lucca's expression. Still, Lucca's body language suggested she was uncomfortable - nervous or embarrassed, most likely.

"Well, Crono and me were making out yesterday, and we accidentally went a bit further than I meant to go..."

"How far did you go?"

"Well, we were doing a lot of touching and kissing, and we started taking clothes off... By the end Crono was naked from the waist up, and I was down to my bra and tail."

Marle frowned, and fought down a surge of jealousy. There would be time enough for that later, once she'd found out what this conversation was all about. In a reasonable tone, she asked, "So, what's the problem?"

"You don't mind?" Lucca sounded surprised.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't... But the truth is I've gone further with him."

"Yeah... Crono mentioned that. I guess my question is, how far exactly are we going to go with him?"

"What do you mean? I assume sooner or later one of us is going to marry and have sex with him, not necessarily in that order, and I'm hoping that will be me."

"Wait, you're thinking you might have sex with him before marrying him?"

"Sure, why not? I mean, I know my Dad wouldn't like it, but I don't intend to tell him about it."

Lucca shook her head. "Even after all the time we've spent together, sometimes you still surprise me. Anyway, I hope you're planning on waiting until we've settled this competition between us before having sex with Crono."

"I hadn't really thought about it, but wouldn't that be the end of the competition if one of us got that far?"

Lucca shook her head. "This is supposed to be a competition for his heart, not a race to see who can get in his pants faster."

"Oh. I see your point. Okay, so neither of us has sex with him until one of us wins his heart. But that doesn't mean we have to stop making out, does it?"

"No... But like I said we have to set limits on exactly how far we're going to allow each other to go with him."

"Oh, that's what you meant. Hmm..."

o-o-o-o

"You know, it's really strange to see myself lying there. Even more than looking in the mirror and seeing your face, it drives home the fact that I'm not in my own body right now," Leena said to Kid as they stood in the Red Bedroom, staring at Leena's body lying in the bed.

Shaking Kid's head and putting the matter aside, Leena went through her stuff and got out the book she'd recently borrowed from the Library. Kid's eyes lingered on the cover long enough for Kid to read the title, "_Secretary". _

Leena said,_ "_I hope you don't mind reading this... I'd get something I knew we'd both like, except I don't really know what sort of books you would want to read, and I'm already in the middle of this one. ...Of course that means you won't have any idea what's going on. I suppose I should give you a quick summary..."

As they headed back out to the yard, Leena explained, "It's about a young woman named Lee Holloway, who has some emotional problems and has resorted to cutting herself to deal with her emotional pain. Well, one day she gets hired as a secretary..." Leena continued on, explaining the unconventional relationship between Lee and her boss and how each of them started to fall in love with the other, but was reluctant to admit it.

After Leena was done sketching out the plot thus far, Kid was not looking forward to reading the book. The underlying romance didn't sound too bad, but the sadomasochistic trappings were going to be hard for her to handle. It was pretty obvious however that the sadomasochism in it was one of the things that had attracted Leena to the book in the first place. Kid had to wonder if Leena had always been this kinky, or if the Funhouse had corrupted her.

o-o-o-o

As Ayla continued to try to decide when and if she should go see Leah, Harle was also thinking about what she should do about what she'd just learned. A portal to the prehistoric era prior to Lavos' arrival might just be the key to preventing Lavos from killing off most of the Reptites and bringing an end to the Reptite empire. Harle was tempted to quit the Funhouse herself, and go search for that portal.

The only problem was, unless she could steal Marle's friends' Gate Key she had no way of opening it - assuming there was enough of a temporal disturbance at this point to even use that. For all she knew the portal might not have started to form yet, or it might have already closed completely - it might even be a one-time event, in which case she'd have to time things perfectly to make use of it.

Perhaps it would be better to wait until the Funhouse was over and steal the Epoch - Marle, Lucca, and Crono's time machine was clearly a more reliable means of getting to the prehistoric era... assuming of course the modifications she had heard were being made to it would allow it to travel back to before Lavos arrived and brought an end to the age of the reptiles. Even if it couldn't, Harle could probably make a difference in Ayla's home time - the Reptites and other dinosaurs did not all die out over night, and with the right leader and some assistance they might have had a chance to maintain their control over the planet.

Unfortunately, if Marle's tales were to be believed it would be dangerous to cross her and her friends. If she were to steal either the Gate Key or the Epoch, she would need to do so in such a way that they did not suspect her of it until she was beyond their reach. This made stealing the Gate Key to use with a Gate she would need to search for and which might not even be currently accessible a particularly bad idea.

On the other hand, stealing the Gate Key and heading for Gaia's Navel alone might not be the only way she could search for the Gate and have the Key handy in case the Gate was there...

Harle walked over to where Ayla was sitting quietly, lost in her thoughts.

"'Ow goes your decision making?" Harle asked.

Ayla looked up at Harle, surprised by the question. "Bad. Leave game like give up. And Ayla no give up. But if Ayla wait, maybe mother gone."

Harle thought about that for a moment, then said, "Refusing all three of your Penalty Dares and forfeiting your Rescue Challenge would be giving up. Leaving ze Funhouse when you are not in danger of Eviction because you have more pressing concerns is not giving up, it is prioritizing. And is not meeting with your mother while you can more important zan zis silly game?"

Ayla gave Harle a half-lidded stare. "Ayla say is **like **give up. Is not trying hardest to win."

"And trying your hardest to win is more important zan increasing your chances to see your mother again?"

"Ayla no know." Ayla turned to look out across the yard, clearly upset.

"Might I suggest, zis would be much easier if you were willing to travel back to your mother's time. Zen if you missed her in zis time you would not have missed your only chance to see her again."

Ayla scowled and shook her head. "Ayla no risk all history!"

"But you heard mademoiselle Lucca - so long as you do nothing too drastic, zere is little chance of you changing history."

"Little chance not no chance." Then a thought occurred to Ayla and she eyed Harle suspiciously. "Harle want Ayla go back? Harle hope Ayla change history, maybe Reptites win in new history?"

"Do not be absurd. I am certain you would be much too careful for that. I merely wish you to be reunited with your mother."

Ayla frowned, but decided not to argue the point with Harle.

"Ayla think about it," Ayla said, hoping Harle would take the hint and leave her alone. Thankfully, Harle did.

As Harle walked away, Ayla wondered if she understood the term "dim witted" properly. If so, she would have to vote against Harle if they were both still around come the next Bonus Dare - as far as Ayla could tell Harle had forgotten or abandoned her role-playing during that conversation. And that fact in itself made Ayla suspicious.

Meanwhile, Harle was disappointed she had been unable to convince Ayla to take the Gate Key and head for Gaia's Navel now; she could only hope the conversation helped push Ayla in that direction.

o-o-o-o

Shortly after Ayla and Harle's conversation, Kid & Leena returned to the yard with Leena's book. Leena set up a chair not far from the pool, and sat down to read.

As Leena read, Kid did her best not to read along. This was harder than she'd hoped, as her brain automatically decoded each word as her eyes passed over it; it took all her concentration to not put those words together into meaningful sentences. She tried to distract herself from the words by focusing on her other senses - the sounds of Crono and Serge sparring in the yard, the smell of the grass and the feel of the sun and slight breeze on her skin. Unfortunately, there was only so much she could tell about the session just by listening to it, and from what she could tell there wasn't much else of interest going on in the yard at the moment.

Her next idea to distract herself was to think about some complex topic; perhaps if she was focused hard enough on thinking about something, she would be able to ignore the book without devoting all her attention to not paying attention. However, no worthy topics came to mind that she hadn't already exhausted - and it didn't help that trying to ignore the words in front of her was making it hard to think of anything else.

In a fit of frustration, she tried to pull her eyes away from the book - but of course nothing happened. Her frustration only growing, she put all of her will into moving her eyes - but they continued to scan along the page regardless. Up until now she had been able to mostly distract herself from her inability to control her body by focusing on everything going on around her, but now she was reminded of her helplessness. A kernel of fear and panic began to grow in her heart, but she ruthlessly suppressed it, reminding herself that she could eject Leena from her body at any time.

Hoping desperately that the subject matter of the book wouldn't just remind her of her predicament, she gave in and began to follow along as Leena read.

o-o-o-o

After some debate Marle and Lucca decided that not only would they not have sex with Crono until they could convince him to pick one of them, but that they would also avoid skin-to-skin contact with him that involved anything between any of their legs. They also agreed that they wouldn't encourage him to take off his underwear, nor would they spend time around him without both pants and panties unless one or more dares or challenges asked them to go without both articles of clothing. (Lucca really didn't see herself going without both pants and panties in front of everyone else and was skeptical Marle would do so either, but felt it wouldn't be fair to tell Marle what dares she could and couldn't accept.)

Lucca had hoped for stricter limits to what they could do when making out, but often when she tried to argue against allowing something Marle would talk about how fun it could be which would lead to Lucca picturing herself doing it and reluctantly agreeing to allow it. What limits they did set were primarily due to Lucca refusing to back down on what she considered key points; as it turned out Marle was not very good at setting limits for herself or others.

While they were at it they also agreed that they would try to keep the competition fair and good natured - there would be no trickery, or badmouthing the other girl, or anything else that would jeopardize their friendship. They agreed that neither one of them would try to keep Crono away from the other, and if one of them should be separated from Crono against her will (for instance, if she was evicted and he wasn't) the girl still with Crono wouldn't allow Crono to choose her until they had been reunited with the other girl and the other girl had been given at least one last chance to try to win Crono's heart.

"One last thing," Lucca said, "Neither of us gets married to him until all this is resolved."

"I thought that went without saying."

"I thought some of the things we agreed on - and some of the things we didn't, for that matter - went without saying... But I was wrong. It's better to say it all and be sure."

Marle nodded. "Right. So no eloping, and no proposing to him. If he proposes to one of us, does that count as that girl winning the competition?"

Lucca touched her hand to the side of her metal-covered head, even now expecting to be able to adjust her glasses. Letting her arm drop back to her side she said, "It should, but we should probably tell him that. We don't want him thinking he can marry one of us and keep the other as a mistress, or take us back to Ayla's time so he can marry both of us."

"Would a marriage made sixty-five million years ago in Ioka even be considered valid in Guardia?" Marle wondered.

"How should I know? Do I look like a lawyer?"

Marle giggled. "No, you look like a robot."

Lucca shook her head. "Anyway I would think that even if Guardia did consider marriages performed in Ioka valid, there would need to be a marriage license - but I'm not sure how that would work considering they didn't have a writing system in Ayla's time. We'd also have to bring the license back with us, unless we wrote it in stone and set it in the Sun Keep; otherwise it would never survive to the present."

Marle giggled again. "Can you imagine that? Some archaeologist visits the Sun Keep and finds a sixty-five million year old marriage license for the three of us."

Lucca smiled under her mask. "Yeah, that would blow some people's minds. ...But seriously, we don't want that, right?"

"Right. It's nice having you around, but I don't want to always be sharing Crono with you."

"Likewise."

o-o-o-o

When Marle and Lucca got back to the yard, Leena put down her book to chat with them some more, much to Kid's relief. (The book hadn't been as bad as Kid had feared, but she still hadn't enjoyed it.)

"Hello, Kid and Leena," Marle said in greeting.

Kid's face took on a bemused expression, as Leena still found having people talk to her to talk to Kid a bit strange.

"So what have you two been up to?" Leena asked.

Marle replied, "Lucca wanted to set some rules for our competition over Crono."

Lucca glanced over at Marle. "You don't have to talk about it so openly!" Deciding there was no point in keeping it from Leena now, she explained, "We should have decided on these rules back when we started competing over him, but it didn't occur to me at the time."

Leena said to Marle, "So, you two really are both pursuing Crono? I know Lucca isn't one to lie, but this is such strange situation I wasn't sure what to think."

Marle nodded. "Yeah, we've been competing over him for a few rounds now."

"And you're both okay with this?"

Marle said, "I was kind of upset when Lucca said she was going to try for Crono, and even more so when Crono didn't brush her off - I hadn't expected any competition for him. But now that I think about it I should have - a great guy like Crono, of course other girls are going to want him. I'm just glad it's Lucca who's my competition, and not some girl I couldn't stand. At least with Lucca I know that whoever Crono chooses he'll be happy and all three of us will stay friends."

Lucca said, "And I'm just happy to have any chance at Crono. When I saw Crono and Marle growing closer over our adventures, I was afraid I'd missed my chance."

Marle, Lucca, and Leena chatted for a bit longer, until Lucca started to overheat in the sun. Lucca headed back to the Red Room to get some water, and the conversation between Marle and Leena slowly died down.

Running out of things to say to Leena, Marle started to talk to Kid instead (she wasn't particularly bothered by the fact that Kid couldn't talk back; it wasn't like it was all that much worse than when she talked to Crono). Leena found being the third party in a one-sided conversation incredibly boring, and was just about to ask if Marle would mind if she read while Marle talked to Kid, when Harle walked over to them.

"Pardon moi, I do not wish to be interrupting your conversation, but I was wondering when you might be able to finish the story you were telling me, Marle?"

"Oh yeah." Marle turned back to Kid and explained to Leena, "I've been telling Harle about the adventures, Crono, Lucca, I, and the rest of us have had traveling through time. You don't mind cutting this conversation short so I can tell her some more, do you?"

Leena glanced at Harle for a moment before returning her attention to Marle. She shook Kid's head and said, "No, I suppose not. Actually, that might be interesting to hear."

"Alright. Just let me finish what I was saying to Kid first..."

o-o-o-o

Kid was a bit jealous to have Harle stealing Marle's attention; since starting the possession dare Kid found herself treasuring every time someone acknowledged that she was still there in her body. Still, at least Marle took the time to finish what she had been saying rather than abandoning her without a second thought.

On the other hand what Marle had been talking about hadn't been all that interesting; hearing more of Marle's perspective on her adventures ought to be a lot more enjoyable a way to pass the time.

o-o-o-o

Lucca returned shortly with some glasses, a pitcher of water with ice-cubes in it, and a screwdriver so she could remove the mouth-piece of her mask when she needed to drink. After Marle explained what she was doing, Lucca decided to help Marle tell the tale. This complicated the telling a bit, as they kept interrupting one another to tell their own take on events, and more than once they started arguing over some minor detail or another.

Harle rather enjoyed watching Marle and Lucca argue, and she found Lucca's additions to the tale quite interesting. The only downside was that thanks to her dare she needed to interrupt Lucca and ask for clarification whenever Lucca used words that were too technical or obscure.

A little bit later, Crono and Serge got tired of sparring. Without anything better to do, they headed over to join the audience for Marle and Lucca's stories. It wasn't long before Ayla came over as well, having made a tentative decision but not ready to tell anyone yet. As everyone else was either listening to or participating in the telling of these tales, Robo came over and joined in too. Both Ayla and Robo added in their two cents on those adventures in which they had participated, but they left the bulk of the storytelling to Marle and Lucca.

By now, both Marle and Lucca were feeling a bit self-conscious about being the center of attention for so many people (particularly as storytellers, something neither of them had great experience with), but they both hid it - Marle behind her normal bubbly persona, and Lucca behind her metal mask.

Unfortunately, just drinking water wasn't enough to keep Lucca cool, and after a while she needed to go inside to cool off again. When she returned outside she moved into the shade in hopes she would be able to stay outside longer that way.

o-o-o-o

Both teams spent most of the afternoon outside in the yard. Marle spent most of that time telling Harle stories, letting others take over when she needed to rest her voice. The others came and went as they felt like it, though most of the time most of the Funhouse residents were part of the crowd listening to or participating in the story.

After telling of the the last of their quests to help people and gain power before the battle with Lavos, Marle told (with a bit of help from the others) of their long and taxing battle through the halls of the Black Omen, their confrontation with and defeat of Queen Zeal, and their final epic showdown with Lavos itself.

When the tale was done, Harle said, "Zat is all very impressive. Truly you have done ze world a great service by destroying zat horrible beast. But if your quest was done, why are you still traveling through time?"

"Well, that all started on the final night of the Millennial Fair..." She had just gotten to the part where she, Crono, and Lucca had headed off in the Epoch to find Crono's mother when Robo pointed out that it was past five, and if the Red Team wanted supper they would need to head to the Cafeteria. Not wanting to miss out on their meal, the human Red Team members all excused themselves and headed to the Cafeteria.

Seeing that (with Frog still asleep in the Gray Room, and Kid leaving under Leena's control) Marle and Harle were being left alone, Robo offered to stay with them to keep them company.

"Sure, that would be great," Marle said. "But after that talk of food I'm a bit hungry myself. If you want, you could come with us to the Gray Room while we get our food."

"I would be happy to."

o-o-o-o

As Kid/Leena ate some potatoes in a light sauce, Kid mused that at least there was one good thing to being possessed by a member of the other team - she got to eat the Cafeteria food for once.

When Ayla was done eating her meal (despite eating a lot, Ayla was usually first or second to finish eating, with Crono being her only competition) she announced, "Ayla think much. Ayla decide stay in Funhouse. Look for mother when game over."

"You sure about this?" Lucca asked, a forkful of food halfway to her mouth (which was currently uncovered).

"Ayla sure. Ayla challenge Ayla to play Funhouse. Ayla try hard win. No give up, no leave early."

Leena said, "But this is your mother we're talking about."

Ayla frowned. "Leah Ayla mother, but... Mother Ayla remember was adult. Leah child, so Leah no mother Ayla remember... Ayla still want meet Leah but not same..." She then smiled, "And mother no be happy if Ayla loose game because no wait to see mother. Ayla learn never give up from mother."

Lucca laughed. "Well, I guess that settles that."

o-o-o-o

After having spent 24 hours in a dungeon cell, spending the afternoon outside wasn't enough for Marle and Harle, so they went back outside after eating. Marle was tired of storytelling after spending most of the day and several hours the previous at it, so after she got to the point where all of her friends had reunited, she decided to stop for the evening.

As this was the first good day the Red Team was able to spend outside, they too returned outside after eating. Without the storytelling to tie them together everyone began to go their separate ways. However, before Marle and Harle could split up, Ayla took the time to inform them she'd be staying for the time being.

"Great! It'll be nice to have you still around," Marle said.

Harle said, "For your sake I hope it is not too late when you do go."

"Ayla hope too."

Harle was a little disappointed by this decision - she had been fully prepared to leave the Funhouse, follow Ayla to Gaia's navel, steal the Gate Key, and head into the past to help the Reptites deal with the apes and prepare for the coming of Lavos. On the other hand, Ayla was just delaying the trip to Gaia's Navel, not abandoning it, so Harle might still be able to pull off the plan. And if not, there was always the Epoch...

o-o-o-o

As Leena looked through her eyes at the darkening sky, Kid found herself growing melancholy, and a bit lonely. Even though there were plenty of people around her, she felt cut off from them - since the start of the dare most of the time someone had talked in her direction they had actually been talking to Leena, and even when someone had actually talked to her she had no way of responding. Even Leena often went quite a while without acknowledging her presence.

Not being able to control her body wasn't pleasant either; most of the time she was able to just let things happen as they may and enjoy the "show", but every so often she wanted to look in a different direction than the one Leena was making them look in, or she wanted to scratch an itch Leena was ignoring, and just how helpless she was right now was driven home. In addition, she found herself growing restless, wanting to move some part of her body, any part, under her own direction - and the more time passed the greater her restlessness grew.

Still, being cut off from everybody else was worse than her lack of control. She wished she could communicate with the others somehow - even just being able to talk with Leena would be a tremendous improvement over her current situation. Unfortunately, she'd already tried "projecting" her thoughts at Leena, to no avail; apparently while her and Leena's souls might be sharing the same body, there was no connection between their minds.

At least she could sense Leena's soul close to her own. It wasn't the same as being able to talk to her, but it did help ease her loneliness somewhat. On the other hand, Kid felt a bit awkward having Leena so close to her; she and Leena might get along alright but they weren't exactly the closest of friends.

o-o-o-o

The sky was a deep blue-black and a few stars had started to come out when Kid started to shiver. "I didn't expect that it would get this cold out at night this time of year..." Leena said.

Serge looked a bit surprised by the comment.

Lucca broke off her conversation with Marle to ask, "Is it really that cold out right now?"

Marle nodded. "Yeah, aren't you cold?"

"No, not really. Actually, I'm just starting to feel comfortable out here..."

Marle put her left hand on her hip. "Well, some of us have some skin exposed to the night air."

"Well, if you want to move indoors, I don't mind."

Marle nodded. "Why don't we?"

Leena said, "I think I'm going to head in too. What about you, Serge?"

Serge shook his head. It had been a while since he had last had a chance to look at the stars, and he felt like taking advantage of the opportunity.

Leena hesitated, then shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Leena, Marle, and Crono headed to the door, with Ayla trailing not far behind - she wouldn't admit it but she had been getting uncomfortably cold too. (She blamed it on her lack of boots.)

As they walked down the hallway, Marle commented, "You know, it's going to be kind of lonely in the Gray Room with just me, Harle, and Frog, and with Frog sleeping even when the rest of us aren't. Does anyone want to stay the night?"

"Sorry, Marle, but I prefer the nice soft beds of the Red Room," Leena said.

Lucca said, "I'm going to have to adjust my routine enough as it is with this costume, I don't need to add being in a different apartment to that."

Ayla said enthusiastically, "Ayla go! Ayla like Gray Room." She'd always liked the extra space the Gray room provided, but at the moment her mind was on the fact that there were enough beds in the Gray Room that she'd be able to have her own.

"Good. It'll be nice to have you over," Marle said.

o-o-o-o

As there was still an hour or two before curfew, Lucca stopped by the Gray Room to finish the conversation she had been having outside with Marle. Not having any extra clothing or belongings she wanted to bring over, Ayla headed straight to the Gray Room as well, and hung out with Marle and Lucca.

Close to an hour later, Harle finally returned, and Lucca decided it was time to leave. When she got back to the Red Room she found that Serge and Robo were both back as well.

Even after only half a day the inside of Lucca's rubber suit felt icky thanks to those times she'd gotten hot enough to sweat. She decided she wanted a bath before bed (and to clean the suit), however that was going to take time. Not wanting to delay anyone else from getting to bed, she let Leena, Serge, and Crono get ready for bed first.

While waiting for the boys to get done with the bathroom, Leena asked Lucca, "So how are we handling sleeping arrangements tonight?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, my body is already using one bed, and normally you and Serge each take one of the other two beds... So where am I going to sleep? Or, I guess I should say where is Kid going to sleep?"

"That's a good question. You could always take the chair Ayla normally sleeps in."

"I'd rather have a bed. I don't suppose you'd give up yours? It's not like you'll be able to feel the mattress or blankets in that costume." Leena said.

"Just because I won't be able to feel the sheets or blankets doesn't mean the bed won't still be more comfortable than the floor or a chair. You accepted the dare, why don't you share the bed with... er, yourself."

Leena frowned, but said, "I guess that's only fair. I'm not looking forward to how crowded those beds are with two people in them, though."

o-o-o-o

In the Gray Room, Marle insisted on making it a proper (stereotypical) Slumber Party, with the styling of hair (after several experiments Marle and Ayla wound up braiding each other's hair), the painting of nails (Marle and Ayla chose pink, while Harle went with lime green), the pillow fight, and the staying up late talking while lying in bed. The only things missing were the pajamas and nightgowns, as Marle had left her nightgowns at the castle in 1000 AD and neither Ayla nor Harle had special sleepwear at all.

Ayla didn't understand the purpose of the Slumber Party "traditions", but she enjoyed herself all the same.

o-o-o-o

After starting the tub filling, Lucca got Crono to help her take off her armor, then kicked him out of the bathroom as she took off her rubber bodysuit. She almost regretted kicking him out; getting the suit off proved much more difficult than putting it on, particularly with both it and her skin sticky with dried and not-so-dried sweat.

She hadn't been given any instructions on the proper care of her body suit, but she knew she didn't want to get back into it after her bath if it was either dirty or wet, so she took a wet cloth and wiped down the insides until it was clean, then took a dry towel and used it to dry the insides of the suit.

Next she washed both the outside of her latex mask and as much as she could reach under it without stretching it.

After all this she finally got in the tub, and began washing her body below the neck. Completing this task she sighed as she ran her fingers over the mass of dried mud and dirty hair that covered the top and back of her head - it would have been nice to wash her hair too, but the "put mud in your hair" dare didn't allow it - at least not unless she had more mud handy to replace the mud she washed out. Speaking of which, if she understood the dare correctly she would have to put more mud in her hair soon; although at first the high clay content had caused the mud to dry into a solid mass, as it dried out further it had started to flake and crumble, and by now much of the mud had fallen out of her hair, leaving her with a tangled mess of dirty hair held together by several large and many small lumps of hardened mud.

Putting the matter aside, she lay back in the tub and allowed herself to relax and enjoy the warm water. It wasn't quite as nice as the hot tub would have been, but not only would the hot tub not have gotten her as clean, but by this point curfew was in effect so she couldn't have gone to the hot tub if she had wanted to.

After a while she got out and let the tub start draining while she dried off thoroughly. She then pulled her suit on, a task made more difficult by her still slightly damp skin (though it was still much easier than getting it off had been). This was followed by putting back on the armor up to her waist.

Knowing she would need help for the torso piece, she stepped out of the bathroom to get some help. Much to her annoyance, it seemed everyone had already gone to bed. Walking over to the couch, she whispered, "Crono... Crono! Wake up, Crono!"

With a bit more prodding she managed to get him up. He helped her put on her torso piece and helmet, then went back to "bed" while she finished with the armor on her arms and her gauntlets. As she did so she mused that if she kept this costume for long, she would either need to take her baths earlier or find a way to put it back on all by herself.

Heading into the bedroom, she lay down on the bed (not bothering to get under the covers), and tried to get comfortable. Unfortunately it was harder than she'd hoped - it seemed no matter how she lay some edge of the armor was poking her just enough to be uncomfortable. _"I should have thought about how it would feel sleeping in my costume when I was designing it,_" she chided herself. After a great deal of tossing, turning, and experimenting she finally settled on a position that was comfortable enough for her to sleep in. However, as she drifted off her thoughts were still on finding a more comfortable way to sleep in her costume.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

_**Funhouse Day 18**_

Leena woke up suddenly, her heard pounding like crazy, but she had no idea why. It was still dark, and everyone else was sleeping. Someone else was in her bed, and she was just about to scream in fear when she realized it was her own body she was looking at, and remembered that she was possessing Kid.

Suddenly, she felt a jerking sensation, and she was waking up again. This time she felt perfectly calm, if a bit disorientated and stiff. However the person sharing her bed with her wasn't so calm. Kid sat up and started tugging frantically at the handcuffs restraining her hands. "Dang it, where's my lock-pick when I need it!"

"Relax, Kid. Hold on a second and I'll get the key," Leena said in as comforting a tone as she could manage when still groggy and just getting her bearings.

Robo had apparently been woken up by the commotion, and now stepped over to the bed. "Please, allow me."

"Thank you, Robo," Leena said with a yawn. In her half-asleep state she doubted she was coordinated enough to unlock the cuffs.

Robo retrieved the key, and assisted Kid in getting the hand-cuffs off. With her hands no longer restrained, Kid began to calm down a bit, though she still looked upset.

Leena forced herself to sit up, so she wouldn't fall asleep again. After stretching and yawning, she asked softly, "What's wrong, Kid? Why did you kick me out of your body?"

Kid looked away, shame evident on her face. So quietly that Leena wasn't sure she'd heard properly, Kid muttered, "I had a nightmare."

Leena blinked. "...A nightmare?"

"I have a lot of them. Always had, at least since Lynx and Harle burned down the orphanage, but ever since I merged with Schala they've been a lot worse... And sometimes a lot stranger. This one was both."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Kid hesitated. "I don't know. It'll sound kind of silly..."

Robo encouraged her, "Talking about it may help - at least that is what my studies into human psychology suggest."

Leena added, "I'll do my best not to laugh... Well, unless you laugh first."

Kid thought about it, then said "Alright."

Kid and Leena both got comfortable, then Kid began. "The first thing you need ta know is it's not just nightmares I've gotten since I merged with Schala. I don't know if it's just my imagination or if we managed to open some sorta link ta the multiverse, but I often dream of other versions of me.

"The dreams usually start the same... Me, Serge, and a masked magician named Magil are walkin' through the woods at night, headin' for Viper Manor to try and steal the Frozen Flame from Lord Lynx, the bastard that rules the region. Sometimes Lynx is a lot like he was in this world, and Magil is really Schala's brother Janus, also known as the Fiendlord Magus. We'll have a showdown with Lynx in some ruins of the Kingdom of Zeal below Viper Manor, but all of us including Lynx will all have to run away when Porre invades.

"Other times things get stranger... Sometimes we'll fight using giant battle robots, or I'll gain control over a spirit of death... Once Lynx was kind hearted, and Magil was engaged to Lady Riddel, and we didn't even have a fight in the end. Another time Lynx had been dead for years, but his ghost was hauntin' Viper Manor and tried to sacrifice us so he could return to life. And then there was the time Magil and Lynx were both space aliens...

"This time, we didn't even make it to Viper Manor - while we were headin' through the woods we caught sight of a golden beetle, and I ran off trying to catch it so I could sell it for tons of money. The others caught up with me, but the bug got away.

"On our way back, we found this clearin' with a sunflower growing in it. But this wasn't no ordinary sunflower. It was a talkin' sunflower - a perverted talkin' sunflower with a French accent. After one perverted line too many, I cut it down... But a bunch more just like it popped up. I ran around killing them, but more and more kept popping up until they grabbed me and transformed into a giant sunflower monster - with me a part of it.

"I was so consumed with rage I didn't even know I had become part of a monster. I... The monster... We crashed through the forest, destroying anything in our path... Serge and Magil wound up havin' to fight us... And in order to save my soul and destroy the monster Serge had to plunge an enchanted dagger into my body and suck out my soul into the dagger.

"After they'd finished cleanin' things up, Magil started talkin' 'bout how they'd need to transplant my soul into another body... And just before I woke up, Serge was sayin' he knew just who ta put me in - while he looked at Magil like he had a damn crush on him."

"Well, that's kind of weird... Not to mention disturbing."

"Yer tellin' me?"

After thinking about it for a few moments, Leena said, "Well, at least things ended sort-of okay. I mean, you weren't part of a monster any more, and none of your friends were hurt."

"I suppose... But my body was gone and I was about to be forced to share a male body with a guy that in another life could have been my brother... And the way Serge was lookin' at Magil really creeped me out."

Leena made a mental note to watch Serge's reactions around cute guys, and in particular to be careful if Schala's brother ever showed up.

Looking down, Kid said quietly, "The endin' was kinda creepy and all, but it was what came before that really bothers me. It kind of hits close to home, and not just because of you possessin' me."

"You mean, because of the Time Devourer?"

"Yeah... Not to mention some of the other things that happened to me on my adventures with Serge."

Leena gave a "Mmm..." of understanding. The silence stretched on for a few minutes before Leena asked, "So, are you going to want to resume your dare?"

Kid lowered her head, resting it on the palms of her hands. "I don't know. I hate to give up... I bet anyone else could do it easy. But I just don't know if I could handle not being in control of my body, not so soon after that nightmare."

"Anyone else could not do it easy! That's why it's a Special Dare - because it's really hard."

Robo nodded. "Even I would be uncomfortable allowing another mind to run my body - and I was originally programmed to obey."

Leena offered, "...If it would help, I could try to talk to you more when I'm possessing you, or do things the way you would do them..."

Kid raised her head only to shake it. "No, I liked the way you handled things fine, at least most of the time. I would'a felt coddled if ya were doing everything just fer me. Heck, I had almost convinced myself I was okay with being under yer control, at least fer a little while. But I'm not - and it's not just you; at this point I don't think there's anybody I could handle being in control of me..."

Leena sighed. "I see. Well in that case, I guess you better take off that costume so I can put it on."

"Um... And what am I going ta wear? All my clothes are in the Gray Room, and we're not supposed to be out in the halls this early in the morning."

"You can borrow one of my nightgowns for now," Leena told her.

After they had traded clothing (making use of the bathroom as a changing room), Leena put her handcuffs back on. Noticing Kid yawning, Leena said, "Let's go back to bed, it's still really early."

Kid nodded and headed back into the bedroom; she was sleepy enough that she didn't think to ask if Leena was going to want to change the sleeping arrangements now that Leena was back in her own body. Leena hesitated when she saw Kid climbing into her bed, but couldn't bring herself to kick Kid out. She debated about going back into the living room and stealing the chair, but finally decided Kid could probably use the company tonight. Leena crawled into bed beside Kid, and was caught off guard when the now more asleep than awake Kid cuddled up against her.

_"I really hope Kid is just doing this because she's upset right now and needs comforting," _Leena thought as she wrapped one arm around Kid in a loose embrace.

To Leena's annoyance, she had a very hard time getting back to sleep - her mind might have only had a few hours of sleep, but her body had been sleeping since noon and had had enough of it. Unfortunately, she couldn't get up without risking waking up Kid.

After quite a while Leena finally fell back into a light doze, but she awoke again shortly before sunrise. As Kid had let go of her during the night, Leena now got and began getting ready for her day as quietly as she could.

o-o-o-o

Robo was the next one up after Leena. The two of them spent some time discussing the events of the night, and decided that Robo would attempt to provide Kid with emotional support both in the short term because of the dare and the dream, and in the long-term to help her get over some of the things haunting her. Leena meanwhile, would simply focus on being her friend; Robo was certain Kid would not accept Leena's pity, so it would be best for Leena to not even bring the events of the night up with Kid again unless Kid brought it up first.

A bit later, Lucca woke up. "Ow," she complained, rubbing her back even though it didn't do much good through the armor. "I definitely need to figure out a better way to sleep in this armor." She did a few stretches to try and alleviate some of her soreness, and massaged her muscles where they weren't covered by her armor. Noticing that Robo wasn't in the room and there was only one body in Leena's bed, she headed out to the main room see what Robo and Leena were up to; it didn't register in her still sleepy brain that it wasn't Leena's body lying on Leena's bed.

Lucca was surprised when she entered the living room to see Leena not only up and about, but wearing her own body. "Leena? Shouldn't you be in Kid right now? I mean, your soul in her body."

Leena nodded. "She sent me back to my own body early this morning. She said that she really didn't like being possessed and wanted to end the dare early."

"Wow, people have failed dares before, but I'm pretty sure that's the first time someone has intentionally ended a dare early. She must have **really **disliked being possessed. It's funny, you didn't seem to be doing anything wrong that I could see. Did she say what was wrong?"

Leena hesitated before replying, "She claimed it wasn't me, that she was actually pretty pleased with how I handled things. It just brought back bad memories."

"Oh," Luca said, thinking about what she knew of Kid's story. "Yeah, now that you mention it, that really wasn't the best of dares for her. I'm amazed she even accepted it in the first place."

"I don't think she likes to admit to her weaknesses, even to herself."

Lucca gave a short laugh, "Yeah, I can see that."

Kid was the next one up. She was a bit nervous when she saw Lucca was already up, though she put on a brave face. Even though this version of Lucca wasn't much older than her, she still often thought of her as her Big Sis, and looked up to her; she worried what Lucca would think of Kid's failure. She also worried how much Leena and Robo had told Lucca. To add to her nerves, Lucca's mask prevented Kid from seeing what Lucca's mood was.

After everyone had said a cheerful "Good morning" to Kid, Lucca took Kid aside, where Leena and Robo couldn't overheard. "So, you couldn't handle being possessed, huh?" she said sympathetically. "Don't take it too badly, we all have certain dares we're unwilling or unable to perform."

"I coulda' handled it," Kid said defensively. "I just didn't feel like dealin' with it any more."

"Right, of course," Lucca said, trying to sound like she believed Kid.

Wanting to change the subject, Kid asked, "So I've been wondering, what's with the costume?"

Lucca put her hand to the side of her mask for a moment. "Well, like I told Leena - and you for that matter - yesterday, I like robots. I mean, a big part of why I like them is the technology behind them, but I also like the way some of them look, and I thought it might be fun to look like one for a while."

"I suppose that makes sense... But depending on what dares you get, 'a while' could wind up being the rest of the game. Don't you think that costume's a bit much to be wearing that long?"

Lucca tried to shrug, only to discover that was one movement her costume did not permit her to make. Instead she spread her hands near waist level. "There weren't really any robot costumes that were any less extreme that looked like what I think of when I think of a robot. And if I get sick of it I can always forfeit the dare." She cocked her head and said with a little bit of amusement, "It's not like I'd be the first person to forfeit a dare."

"I suppose ya got a point."

Changing the subject, Lucca said, "By the way, you heard our discussion about trying to rescue people from the Darkness Beyond Time yesterday. What do you think - would it be possible?"

"Of course it's possible - I'm here, aren't I? Or... Schala is?" Kid paused, then complained, "Sometimes havin' two sets of memories is confusin'." She shook her head. "Anyway, with the right equipment it shouldn't be hard to open a gate there at any weak spot in the space-time continuum... Gettin' back out is harder, but I don't see why it wouldn't be possible if you brought the tools with you. But I gotta warn ya... Ya may not find too many people to rescue."

"Why not?"

"Belthesar didn't name the Time Devourer that just to sound dramatic." Kid's face assumed a dark expression that reminded Lucca of Magus, and she said in a rough voice, "By the time Serge, Kid, and our friends reached the Darkness, there wasn't much left there..."

"Oh..." Lucca was appalled by the revelation. She wanted to say something to comfort Kid, but couldn't think of anything, so instead she just said, "Well, we'll just have to see what we find."

o-o-o-o

Marle and Ayla spent a bit of time in the morning removing the polish from Ayla's nails and restoring her hair to it's normal wild-and-free mess; Ayla had actually liked what they had done, but felt it didn't go with her costume. Marle wound up undoing her own hair as well, as Ayla hadn't done a very good job braiding it, but she kept the nail polish on.

At breakfast time, Ayla headed out, and met with the other Red Team members in the Cafeteria. Once again Leena had to give an abridged explanation of why she was in her own body now; as with when she told Lucca, Leena left out the nightmare and how vulnerable Kid had seemed.

Ayla frowned, but didn't say anything beyond acknowledging the explanation. She was rather disappointed in Kid - she was a firm believer that when you accepted a challenge you never gave up. On the other hand Ayla couldn't honestly say she knew for sure she could have done better, not with a dare like this.

o-o-o-o

Kid too was forced to give an abridged version of why she ended her dare when she showed up in the Gray Room for breakfast.

"I told Leena she should have thought more about you while possessing you. I'm just sorry I didn't spend more time with you myself," Marle said.

"No, it's not that. I wouldn't have wanted Leena to baby me, and you spent enough time with us. It... just wasn't a very good dare for me. I don't think there's anything anyone could have done to make it work."

"Oh. Well, I suppose I can understand that. I mean, the only reason I was able to get through my cast dare was because I had to do it to stay in the Funhouse and I really wanted to stay here. And I was still able to move my head and talk."

Harle said, "So I take it you 'ave given up this foolish notion you should be called Leena?"

Kid scowled. "There was nothing foolish about it - you'll call me whatever I tell ya ta call me. But yeah, I want to be called Kid again now."

"You really should learn to make up your mind."

o-o-o-o

Kid wasn't sure if she had to report her forfeit of the dare or not, but just to be sure after breakfast she found one of the staff and let them know. He thanked her for her honesty and promised to pass the information on.

After that she headed out to the yard to join Marle and Harle in enjoying what looked to be another nice sunny day.

When they got done with breakfast the Red Team joined the Gray outside. Kid took this opportunity to take Serge aside.

"So, I notice your costume has similar fur patterns to Lynx. That ain't a coincidence, is it?"

Serge scratched the back of his head. "No... I saw one costume that looked even more like Lynx, and it got me thinking about the time my soul was in his body... I hated how some people treated me badly just because I wasn't human, and how others feared me because my body had done evil things in the past. But being a cat person wasn't so bad on its own; at times I sort of enjoyed it. I thought maybe the costume would let me have the good without the bad."

"And does it?"

"Only a little bit... I don't have Lynx's agility or sense of smell, I can't control my tail, and my 'fur' isn't real. Still, it's fun being able to look like a cat and not be feared or looked down on."

"Well, I'm glad yer enjoyin' it, mate." Kid hesitated, then said, "Speakin' 'bout yer time as Lynx, when you were talking about it with Leena earlier it sounded like ya haven't entirely gotten over it yet..."

Serge said bitterly, "He stole my body and used it hurt you... He stuck me in a body not my own, a body that... Well, I already said what was wrong with it. And to add insult to injury he went and ruined my reputation."

"Yep, that Lynx is a right bastard."

More quietly, Serge said, "I shouldn't complain... You had it a lot worse than me."

Kid stared up at a puffy white cloud floating across the sky, "We all have our battle scars, mate. Ain't no point tryin' ta say whose is worse, unless ya like people feelin' sorry fer ya - and that just ain't my style."

o-o-o-o

A bit later, Ayla got the Red Team together in one corner of the yard. Marle crawled over and asked, "Hey, what are you guys doing?"

"Ayla teach fight without weapon."

"Oh, this is one of the Unarmed Combat classes Lucca told me about, isn't it? Can I watch?"

"Ayla no mind."

Marle watched them for a little while. She was impressed with how good Crono and Serge were getting - she bet they were better now than Ayla had been when Crono, Marle, Lucca, and Robo had first met her - or at least that they could punch harder. Lucca and Leena weren't as far along in the strength department, but they seemed to be getting most of the moves Ayla was teaching. Robo did not appear to be trying to learn from Ayla (presumably because he was already programmed in how to fight with his fists), instead serving as another sparring partner.

Marle considered asking to join in on the classes, but she wasn't sure how well she could fight like that in her snake tail and with one of her arms turned to stone. Besides, she didn't want to hold everyone else back as she learned things the others had learned almost two weeks ago.

After the class, Lucca explained to her fellow time-travelers (save the still-sleeping Frog) what Kid had told her about the Darkness Beyond Time.

"That's horrible!" Marle exclaimed when Lucca mentioned the fate of those in the Darkness when the Time Devourer dwelt there. "We should have thought of rescuing people from the Darkness sooner! Then maybe we could have saved Melchior and Janus and everyone from the future we erased! Maybe we could have even saved Schala before she had to go through all that..."

Lucca shook her head. "We didn't even know what the Darkness Beyond Time was until we talked with Serge and Kid - how could we have thought of rescuing anybody from it? And if we were going to rescue anyone from the Darkness Beyond Time before the Time Devourer got them, I think we would have had to have done it before we defeated Lavos... Once Schala and the Lavos fragment began to merge, only the Chrono Cross could save her - and if we weren't prepared to destroy her along with the Lavos fragment, we probably would have just become another meal for the Time Devourer.

"...As for Melchior and Janus," Lucca continued, "Kid says she doesn't remember the Time Devourer eating them, but the Darkness Beyond Time was empty when she left it. We're not quite sure what that means."

"So there might be a chance they might still be alive?"

"Well, maybe..."

"I hope they're alright..." Marle shook her head. "But what about everyone else the Time Devourer devoured? All those lives lost, just because we had to go changing history..." Marle's eyes began to tear up.

Ayla said angrily, "What Marle do instead? No change history, let Lavos kill world?"

Marle sighed, and said sadly, "No, we couldn't do that."

Lucca walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Softly she said, "Before we knew about the Darkness Beyond Time we always thought that we were dooming the people of the post-apocalyptic future to non-existence... along with the original versions of anyone else whose lives we altered through time travel. It hurts to think that theoretically we could have saved some of them after all, but what happened to them was no worse than what we thought we were doing to them ourselves..."

Her voice choked up, Marle said, "I - I know, but... But I never let myself think about it. If - if I had, I don't think I could have done what had to be done to save the world."

Crono stepped up to her and put his hand on her other shoulder, and he and Lucca did their best to console Marle.

o-o-o-o

Shortly before lunch-time, Robo took Kid aside and asked her, "How are you doing?"

"I'm doin' fine. There some reason I shouldn't be?" Kid said with false bravado.

"You seemed quite disturbed last night, so I thought it might be prudent to make certain you'd recovered."

Kid was silent a moment, then said more sincerely, "Really, I'm doin' a lot better. Thinkin' 'bout that dream still creeps me out, but it was just a dream. So long as I don't think about it, there's no problem."

"That is good to hear. I hope you're not regretting ending your dare, though, now that you are feeling better."

"Not a bit. That was a horrible dare and I'm glad to be through with it, even if it means loosin' points."

o-o-o-o

Frog's consciousness returned slowly; by the time he was awake enough to open his eyes he had remembered that he was in the Funhouse and even that just before falling asleep he had drank a sleep potion. He did not however remember that his left arm was turned to gold until he tried to rub his eyes and found that only his right arm would bend.

After a few minutes Frog managed to drag himself out of bed. He found that his back was sore, his limbs were stiff (even the non-gold ones), he was starving, and he had an awful taste in his mouth. He headed into the main Gray Room and found his teammates all there, apparently having recently finished eating.

"Welcome back, mate," Kid said to him. "Vicks just stopped by to tell us to head to the Dare Room as soon as you woke up, got dressed, and got something to eat."

Frog nodded and croaked out a hoarse "I thank thee". He shambled to the sink and drank quite a bit of water before heading to the cabinet for some food.

o-o-o-o

The Red Team was already waiting by the Dare Wheel when the Gray Team arrived. Frog glanced over at the costumes of the Red Team and was quite surprised by what he saw. He had expected them to choose simple costumes, perhaps ones that allowed them to dress similarly to their normal styles. Crono and Ayla had fulfilled that expectation (in fact, if he didn't know Ayla only had the one outfit he would have wondered if she was even performing the dare), but the others appeared to have used the dare as an excuse to dress rather outlandishly. The idea of dressing up as a cat was perhaps not too unusual under the circumstances, but Serge's costume was far more extensive than he would have expected someone to wish to wear for an indefinite span of time. Meanwhile Leena's outfit was certainly simple - but he never would have expected Leena of all people to dress in an outfit so revealing. And then there was the feminine robot costume, which by process of elimination must be Lucca - never before had he seen a costume so elaborate, or which left the wearer so unrecognizable.

Before Frog could hop over and discuss the costumes with the Red Team, a familiar cackle was heard, and the disembodied head and hands of Norstein Bekkler appeared in the room. "Welcome, contestants. As you know, it is just about time for the Round Five Individual Challenge. However, before we get to that we must discuss the mater of a certain dare which was abandoned part-way through."

Frog was surprised, this was the first he'd heard of the matter.

Bekkler continued, "Kid, for failing to complete a Special Dare, I am afraid we must not only take back the twelve points we gave you for accepting the dare, but we must remove another twelve points just as if you had refused the dare from the start. Luckily for you, zero is the lowest our scoreboard will go."

Kid winced as on the scoreboard, her points dropped to zero. Frog glanced over at Kid, curious what the story behind this was, but he only allowed sympathy to show in his expression.

"I would like to point out there is one silver lining to your score being zero," Bekkler said. "As you are no longer earning any points for your one continuing Bonus Dare, you are free to end it if you so choose. If you would like to trade the voucher you received from Robo back to him in return for the boot of yours he currently possesses, you may do so."

"Well, that's good ta know..." After thinking about it, however, Kid said, "Goin' without boots ain't so bad, and havin' a voucher might come in handy. I think I'll let him hang on ta' my boot for now, if that's alright?" She glanced at Robo, who nodded.

Bekkler said, "Very well. With that taken care of, it's time for the Individual Challenge. I'll meet you all in the Challenge Room."

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_o

Author's Notes:

Well, getting the quality of this chapter up to a point where I was willing to post it was sure a long and challenging process! Now I just need to finish writing and revising the rest of the episode!

I must say, I was a bit surprised at how serious some parts of this chapter came out. I never would have guessed back when I conceived of this story that it would lead to such an in-depth examination of the characters' personalities. I suppose that's what happens when you try to write your characters realistically and devote more time to character building and interaction than to plot...

Incidentally, I've been waiting since the first chapter of the Funhouse for a chance to have Serge and Ayla realize Serge knew Ayla's mother, but I could never find a reason for the subject to come up until now. It's nice to finally have the opportunity to include it.

I also should mention that I included several references to other works in this chapter. To reduce spoilers for those not familiar with the works in question, I shall mostly limit myself here to a list of said works.

The first reference was a brief mention of a slightly altered version of the events from the new "ending" introduced in the DS Chrono Trigger. Just to be clear, this does not change the fact that the version of Crono's party in this story has not experienced any of the additional content of the DS version.

The second reference was to the the 2002 film "Secretary". (No bonus points for figuring out where in the chapter I made this reference!)

The third reference (or set of references depending on how you look at it) is to the original sequel to Chrono Trigger, Radical Dreamers. (It's a real shame the game has never been officially released outside of Japan; thank goodness for emulators and fan translations!)


End file.
